Shamima Begums husband believed to be in Kurdish-run prison in Syria

Former ISIS bride Shamima Begum, now 22, left the UK in February 2015 to join the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.

She was 15 years old a the time she left her family in east London, alongside two school friends, to join the terrorist group.

Begum later revealed she had married Dutch convert Yago Riedijk just 10 days after arriving in IS territory.

In a TV interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain today, she insisted she had “made a mistake at a very young age” and didn’t know ISIS was a “death cult”.

When Begum was discovered in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, the then-Home Secretary Sajid David stripped her of her British citizenship on national security grounds.

Begum is challenging this decision and wants to return to the UK to pursue her appeal, but the Supreme Court has prevented this.

Who is Shamima Begum’s husband?

Riedijk, 29, is a Muslim convert from the Netherlands who left the country for Syria in October 2014.

According to his former neighbours in Arnhem, the Netherlands, Riedijk was brought up in a “lovely” middle class family before he converted to Islam and joined ISIS>

During an interview with The Times in 2019, Begum said the last time she had seen her husband was when they fled the village of Baghuz at the beginning of February in that same year.

Her husband had surrendered to a group of fighters who are allied to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

In an interview with BBC Middle East correspondent Quentin Sommerville, Riedijk had said he rejected IS and had tried to leave the group.

Meanwhile, Begum was taken to the al-Hawl refugee camp.

In the same interview Shamima revealed that their three children had all died young. Her youngest child was born in a refugee camp in February 2019, and by March 2019 had died of a lung infection.

Are they still married?

It’s unclear whether they are still married, and their marriage may not be recognised under Dutch law as she was underage at the time.

In an interview in July 2021 Riedijk confirmed he was married to Begum and that they had agreed a dowry.

In the clip, given exclusively to the Record, he said: “We both agreed a dowry. basically all she asked for was a Koran.

“We took the pledge and after that you have to hear and obey."

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  Shamima Begum reveals why she's taken off her hijab and her fear of attacks in camp

Meanwhile, Begum said in September 2021 she would “rather die” than return to ISIS.

Asked whether she was groomed by ISIS, she said: "I think yes, I was groomed and taken advantage of and manipulated into coming.”

Where is Shamima Begum’s husband now?

It is believed that Reidijk is currently in a Kurdish-run prison in Syria.

Ex British Army squaddie Alan Duncan managed to secure an interview with him as part of his documentary ISIS: What about Justice for Us.

He told the Record that he had met Riedijk at an unspecified “intelligence centre” and had travelled to prisons to speak to ISIS figures.

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