Shamima Begum's schoolmate in east London, whom she says inspired her to join IS, has been tracked down by the BBC having escaped from a detention camp in Syria.
By Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe KentShamima Begum's best friend, who she says inspired her to join IS, has been tracked down by the BBC having escaped from a detention camp in Syria.
contacted Sharmeena online after she escaped from Syria's Camp Hol prison for women who were with IS, and their children.She was a schoolmate of Shamima Begum, in Bethnal Green, east London, when, in December 2014, Sharmeena suddenly went missing. She had run away to join the self-styled Islamic State terror group in Syria.Two months later Shamima and two other friends followed their ex-schoolmate to the so-called caliphate that had been set up by IS.
Despite speculation that Shamima Begum had worked in Hisba - the IS religious police - and made suicide belts, Sharmeena says such theories were "such an insult". A former IS member has told the BBC Sharmeena is fanatical even by the standards of IS. When asked if she regretted joining IS, Sharmeena skirted over the question, saying only she didn't want to come back to Britain and go to jail.
"I mean, in my opinion, even though Sharmeena probably is still radical. I will say she was also a victim of ISIS." When asked why she was raising money for a terror group, Sharmeena claimed she was "simply feeding and clothing women and children who are poor".
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