Father of Islamic State runaway had taken her on protest march

The father of one of the London schoolgirls thought to have joined Islamic State has admitted joining extremists in a flag-burning mob and said that he took his daughter to two protests. 

He and his wife took the girl (now aged 15) to a protest at the Saudi embassy in London against the treatment of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia.

“The only reason we [he and his wife Fetia] took her first time, was because there was no one to look after her and we both felt it important to go. We both lost many people back home, we wanted to try to get help for people back home, too many human rights violations there. Many died. Maybe it influenced her.”

In fresh footage uncovered by The Times, Mr and Mrs Hussen can be seen walking through the crowd and briefly losing Amira, who would then have been 13. Mrs Hussen goes back to fetch the girl, who went missing in February with two others.

He said that he took his daughter to another similar protest. 

To be fair the Saudi record on human rights is not good, and I can see a difference between legitimate protest and extremism and incitment to violence. But neither do I believe that he was unaware of her intentions, or had not influenced her ideological leanings.

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