'Militant couple' want to get back to Europe from Syria with son

The Dutch husband of a British teenager who was stripped of her citizenship after joining the Islamic State group wants to return to the Netherlands with her and their child, the BBC reported on Sunday. Shamima Begum, 19, left London with two school friends to join IS when she was 15 but now wants to return to the UK with her newborn son. Her British citizenship was revoked last month on security grounds.

The fate of Begum, who was found in a detention camp in Syria last month, has illustrated the ethical, legal and security conundrum that governments face when dealing with the families of militants who swore to destroy the West. Citing an interview with her husband Yago Riedijk, the BBC reported he had fought for IS but had surrendered to a group of Syrian fighters and was being held in a Kurdish detention centre in north-eastern Syria.

The BBC said Riedijk now wants to return to the Netherlands with his wife and son. "She seemed in a good state of mind," he said of when he first met her. "It was her own choice. She asked to look for a partner for her, and I was invited. She was very young ... she chose to get married and I chose to marry her."

(With inputs from agencies.)