Did UK cover up smuggling of British teenager to Daesh by Canadian spy?

Robert Carter
Press TV, London

A new explosive book and UK media reports have revealed that UK police and security agencies helped cover up the role of the Canadian spy agency in a British teenager’s journey to join the Daesh terror group in Syria in 2015. Our correspondent Robert Carter reports.

Did the UK authorities cover up the trafficking of 3 British schoolgirls who joined the Daesh terrorist group back in 2015?

That is the question being asked after shocking revelations in a new book that claims Canadian intelligence officers informed British police that the girls had entered Syria with the help of a double agent, Mohammed Al Rashid, who provided information to Canada on who he had smuggled to the Daesh.

One of the girls is the former UK citizen Shamima Begum, who is currently fighting for a return to Britain, arguing that she was groomed by traffickers.

An inquiry has been demanded after it emerged that Canada knew about the teenagers’ fate but kept silent while the Metropolitan Police ran a frantic, international search for the trio.

The book then claims that Canada privately admitted its involvement only when it feared being exposed, and successfully asked the British to cover up its role. The scandal has now reopened the debate over stripping Begum of her nationality.

Following the latest allegations, Press TV spoke with the Begum family's lawyer for his reaction.

A spokesman for the UK Government said they "do not comment on operational intelligence or security matters”.

But choosing to remain silent won't be enough to quell the growing questions surrounding the way western intelligence dealt with Daesh or their sophisticated smuggling operations which saw so many westerns slip through the net, including the young and vulnerable.

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