Schoolgirl trio 鈥榮tole jewelry鈥 to fund IS trip
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Three London schoolgirls who fled to Syria are believed to have stolen family jewelry to fund their travel, police said as the trio鈥檚 relatives expressed disbelief at their actions.
School friends Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-olds Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, left their homes last month and flew to Istanbul, from where they are believed to have joined Islamic State jihadists in Syria.
Giving evidence before parliament鈥檚 home affairs committee on Tuesday, Britain鈥檚 national police leader on counter-terrorism, Mark Rowley, said the girls paid a travel agent more than 1,000 pounds (US$1,506) for their flights. Asked where they found the money, he said: 鈥淲e think it鈥檚 linked to theft from families. We think it鈥檚 linked to taking jewelry from one of their family members.鈥
But family members later said that the girls must have found additional funds elsewhere, as the jewelry that was missing was not of great value. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 lost 2,000 pounds worth of jewelry,鈥 Shamima鈥檚 sister Renu Begum told ITV News.
鈥淚 feel there is someone out there helping in terms of funding because there鈥檚 no way my sister has got the cash to fund herself,鈥 said Kadiza鈥檚 sister Halima Khanom.
鈥淚 really hope the police would now make it their business to establish where these funds came from,鈥 added Kadiza鈥檚 cousin Fahmida Aziz.
The girls are among 26 British young women who have gone to join IS fighters in Syria, according to Rowley, who is assistant commissioner of London鈥檚 Metropolitan Police.
But he said that so far 鈥渨e have no evidence to suggest they are involved in terrorism鈥, and they could return home to Britain without facing charges.
Earlier, Abase鈥檚 father Hussein Abase told the committee his daughter was a victim 鈥 adding that he believed she had been 鈥渢errified鈥 by police attention following the flight of another school friend to Syria in December.
Police spoke with Sultana, Begum and Abase and four other girls from the same London school after the 15-year-old girl went missing in December, and gave them a letter requesting further permission from their parents to talk to them.
None of the trio passed on the letters, and their relatives have complained that they could have acted to stop the girls if they had known the situation.
Abase said of his daughter: 鈥淪he is the kind of girl who, if it (is) sunset, will call me to pick her up. So how on Earth (can) she travel to abroad and to join ISIS (IS)? The letter terrified my daughter.鈥
In her evidence to the committee, Begum鈥檚 older sister Sahima also said there was no indication that the younger girl had been radicalized.
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