The British woman who fled to Syria and became the leading female recruitment officer for Daesh, has told friends she wants to return home, Sky News has reported.
Former punk rocker, Sally Jones, 45, traveled to the Syrian city of Raqqa, with her son and joined the terror network in 2013.
But according to a woman, calling herself “Aisha,” who also traveled to the Daesh-controlled city, said Jones was eager to return to Britain.
She told Sky News: “She was crying and wants to get back to Britain but ISIS (Daesh) is preventing her because she is now a military wife. She told me she wish to go to her country.”
It is unlikely she will get her wish, the US recently named Jones as a prime target for assassination. And top US Diplomat, Brett McGurk said up to 3,500 foreign fighters in Raqqa would die there.
Jones married Junaid Hussain, Daesh’s chief of digital jihad, but he was killed in a US drone strike in 2015, as he planned terror attacks against the West, Sky News reported.
Apparently Daesh has prevented Jones from leaving, because she is a “military bride,” and has not been able to remarry, because the militants prefer younger women.
Meanwhile Jones’ son, now 12-years-old, is believed to have been forced to execute prisoners, video footage was released, that appeared to show him pointing a gun to the back of a prisoner’s head and shooting.
Daesh recruiter Sally Jones wants to leave Raqqa and ‘return home to Britain’ friend claims
Daesh recruiter Sally Jones wants to leave Raqqa and ‘return home to Britain’ friend claims
Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval
Egypt “asserts the importance of putting pressure on Israel to end the blockade on the (Gaza) Strip,” the foreign ministry said as hundreds of activists in a Gaza-bound convoy head to the Egyptian border on their way to the besieged Palestinian territory, but added “we will not consider any requests or respond to any invitations submitted outside the framework defined by the regulatory guidelines and the mechanisms followed in this regard.”
Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south
- Health ministry says Israeli drone strike hit the town of Beit Lif
BEIRUT: One person was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on a village in southern Lebanon, the health ministry reported, the latest deadly attack despite a November ceasefire.
“The raid carried out by an enemy Israeli drone on the town of Beit Lif, in the Bint Jbeil district, resulted in one martyr and three people injured,” read a statement from the ministry.
The official National News Agency said the strike targeted a house’s courtyard in the town, adding that a missile hit the homeowner’s car.
Israel has regularly bombed its northern neighbor since the November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with militant group Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
The agreement required Hezbollah fighters to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle all military infrastructure to its south.
It also required Israel to withdraw all of its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic.”
US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff
- State Department prepares to order departure of all nonessential personnel from US Embassy in Baghdad, officials tell AP
WASHINGTON: The State Department is preparing to order the departure of all nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Baghdad due to the potential for regional unrest, two US officials said Wednesday.
The Baghdad embassy has already been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel, but the department also is authorizing the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait.
That gives them an option on whether to leave the country.
The Pentagon is standing by to support a potential evacuation of US personnel from US Embassy Baghdad, another US official said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been made public.
Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges
- Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after three-hour interrogation
BEIRUT: A former Lebanese Cabinet minister has been arrested and charged after an investigation into alleged financial crimes, judicial and security officials told The Associated Press.
Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after a three-hour interrogation about illegal use of ministry funds and use of suspicious contracts. The three judicial officials and one security official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Lebanon has been trying to reform its battered economy, which for decades has been rife with profiteering.
Salam has been charged with forgery, embezzlement, and misuse of public funds. Local media said it was related to alleged extortion of private insurance companies and using funds from a committee that supervises those companies for his own expenses.
Salam did not directly comment. On Monday, however, he shared a video on social media that denied the reports and asserted that his use of those funds was to increase the committee’s efficacy and transparency.
Salam was economy minister for over three years. He was appointed in 2021 at a time when Lebanon’s economy had plummeted and the country was plagued by severe power outages, fuel shortages and stark food inflation.
Israel urges Egypt to block Gaza-bound activist convoy
- Pro-Palestinian activist convoy, bound for Gaza, arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Wednesday
JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday called on Egypt to block a hundreds-strong pro-Palestinian activist convoy from reaching Gaza, as the group arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
“I expect the Egyptian authorities to prevent the arrival of jihadist protesters at the Egypt-Israel border and not to allow them to carry out provocations or attempt to enter Gaza — an act that would endanger the safety of (Israeli) soldiers and will not be allowed,” Israel Katz said in a statement.
