Shamima Begum's ISIS husband 'met her for 10 minutes' before deciding he wanted to marry

Shamima Begum left Bethnal Green in London for Raqqa, Syria with two other school friends back in 2015 to join ISIS and has been living in l-Roj camp in northern Syria

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George Mathias

15:32, 09 Feb 2023

[Begum has pleaded with the British government to allow her to return]

Begum has pleaded with the British government to allow her to return(Image: BBC)

Former ISIS bride Shamima Begum says a 10 minute chat was enough to convince her husband to tie the knot.

She made the revelation as part of the BBC's The Shamima Begum Story which interviewed her at length on a variety of topics, following her fateful decision to join ISIS in 2015, when she was 15-years-old.

Her husband, Yago Reidijk, is a Dutch national who joined ISIS and became a fighter when he was 23.

Speaking to the BBC from a jail in Syria, Reidijk explained how Begum gave him a list of requests should they be wedded, including that she wanted the freedom to be able to go and see her friends.

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

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

I just wanted a partner who I could find some rest with and who could take care of me. I asked if she knew how to cook and she said yes," he said.

Begum revealed on the programme that she was initially happy to have been married since it allowed her to get out of a cramped all women living area which was 'disgusting.'

Our meeting was 10 minutes max. We decided we wanted to try it. We dont have such a thing as dating or going out and having a meal together. You get to know each other a bit and then if you click you decide to take this step, she said.

[Begum is highly unlikely to return to the UK]

Begum is highly unlikely to return to the UK(Image: BBC/Joshua Baker)

Begum said she had spent her entire life with women so being with a man was a new concept to me.

Reidijk said Begum, who was a minor when they married "did not have a lot of life experiences.

There wasnt much of a person to get to know," he said.

[Riedijk fathered three children with Begum, all of whom died]

Riedijk fathered three children with Begum, all of whom died(Image: BBC)

Most of her life experiences she has today are the experiences she had in the Islamic State as I got to know her. She was basically an empty paper."

She had got a little bit of understanding about how the married life worked, so that helped her out a lot."

But no sooner had they been married than Reidijk was rounded up by ISIS, accused of being a Western spy.

[Asked what she would tell her 15-year-old self looking back, Begum replied she would say 'don't do it b***']

Asked what she would tell her 15-year-old self looking back, Begum replied she would say 'don't do it b***'(Image: BBC)

He was imprisoned for eight months, before the couple were reunited but Begum said he had become a different person and was violent and abusive towards her.

Begum still resides in a refugee camp, having been stripped of her British citizenship.

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