Shamima Begum's jihadi lover says they were 'happily married and baked cakes'

The Dutch national who married Begum paints a surprising picture of their time spent together which including allowing Begum on shopping trips and even baking cakes

13:46, 02 Dec 2022

[Riedijk, now 27, is being held in a Kurdish detention centre in north-eastern Syria]

Riedijk, now 27, is being held in a Kurdish detention centre in north-eastern Syria(Image: BBC)

Shamima Begum's husband has said his marriage to the jihadi Brit was "happy", despite him being thrown in jail by ISIS after being accused of being a spy 10 days after they were betrothed.

Yago Riedijk, a Dutch national, was 23 and had been injured fighting for ISIS when he married Begum, then a 15-year-old girl, only a few days after she arrived in Syria.

In an interview with the Mail, he claims their coexistence was a normally, happy marriage, despite the pair's then Islamist convictions.

Begum was an A-star pupil at Bethnal Green Academy in East London before she left for Syria in 2015 in support of the terrorist group.

[Begum has been stripped of her British citizenship, meaning it will be very hard for her to ever return to the UK]

Begum has been stripped of her British citizenship, meaning it will be very hard for her to ever return to the UK(Image: BBC)

She ended up having three children with Riedijk, but all three died, two of malnutrition and one of pneumonia after she was captured by Western-backed forces.

Begum's lawyers are currently trying to appeal against the decision to strip her of her British citizenship, saying she was groomed and trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

"Begum was following a well-known pattern by which ISIS cynically recruited and groomed female children, as young as 14, so that they could be offered as wives to adult men," Nick Squires KC, told the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Riedijk was also asked about Begum's age, and the age gap between them.

"Basically, I was looking for marriage and a friend of mine came to me and said there's a sister looking for marriage, are you interested? I took him up on his offer," he said.

[Shamima Begum pictured passing through security barriers at Gatwick Airport on her fateful trip to Syria]

Shamima Begum pictured passing through security barriers at Gatwick Airport on her fateful trip to Syria(Image: Getty Images)

According to Riedijk, the pair had an informal chat before agreeing to marry with Begum seeking assurances over "some freedoms" such as going shopping and seeing friends.

"We agreed on a dowry," he said. "All she asked for was an English translation of the Koran, which I agreed to."

Riedijk fought in the battle of Kobane towards the end of 2014 against Kurdish forces and was captured by them.

"It was known to be a massacre," he said. "I don't know how to describe it. Loads and loads of Islamic State fighters died there."

The radicalised fighter weirdly describes his marriage to Begum in much the same language as newly weds in the UK would talk about married life.

"I've never been married before, it was an experience, living together with someone for the first time, getting to know somebody from scratch, again, it was an experience."

Asked if he was happy once married, he says: "I was at that point."

Their honeymoon period however was short lived.

"We were only together for 10 days and after 10 days I got arrested, I was accused of being a spy by the Islamic State."

[Begum has previously said she wants to return to the Netherlands with Riedijk ]

Begum has previously said she wants to return to the Netherlands with Riedijk (Image: BBC)

When he was eventually released, Riedijk says he turned his back on ISIS.

"A lot of people had talked about me, basically saying I was a spy and bad things. I started to distance myself from them, hang about with the Arabic community, mostly civilians."

After his release he says his life with Begum became more normal for a bit, with the couple swapping the sword for the sieve and beginning baking.

"We started baking cakes, selling cakes on the market in order to make money to survive.

"There were some nice days with the wife and kids at home. Some beautiful memories," he said.

Begum, now 23, lives in a Syrian refugee camp.

Last year the UK supreme court ruled that is was not unlawful for the British government to strip her of her British citizenship, making her return to the UK unlikely.

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