Sources have told Tasnime Akunjee, the lawyer representing Begum’s family, that there is significant concern within its ranks that a people smuggler working for the Canadian secret services helped Begum and two friends from Bethnal Green, east London, to join to the Islamic State in Syria. Until now, sources at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) have remained tight-lipped about the scandal, after it was revealed last week that the Metropolitan Police in London allegedly knew that a people smuggler linked to Western security services was trafficking the then 15-year-old . Akunjee said: “I have spoken to people within CSIS who are extremely concerned and shocked about his role in the trafficking of Shamima Begum and I would strongly support an investigation into his involvement.” He also suggested that at the time of Begum’s alleged trafficking in 2015, Canadian intelligence officials appeared to have violated the agency’s operating guidelines. “It is also worth noting that, at the time of its operation in Syria, CSIS did not have the legal authority to recruit and provide resources to someone engaged in supporting terrorism,” Akunjee said. Of Begum’s two friends smuggled into Syria by Mohammed al-Rashed – a double agent working for both IS and Canadian intelligence – Kadiza Sultana, then 16, is believed to have been killed in an airstrike while Amira Abase, then 15, is missing. Pressure is also mounting in the UK for an independent inquiry into exactly what the Met and UK security services knew about the trafficking network that took the three London schoolgirls to Syria. Canada privately admitted his involvement when he feared he would be exposed and asked Britain to cover his role, according to a new book, The Secret History of the Five Eyes by Richard Kerbaj. Five Eyes is the network that shares information between Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It says two CSIS officials met with the Met’s then head of counter-terrorism, Richard Walton, in March 2015, shortly after Begum disappeared. The revelations prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to advocate the need for intelligence agencies to be “flexible and creative” but, he added, also adhere to strict rules. Akunjee also said that questions about IS child trafficking as possible intelligence items needed to be answered. Last week’s revelations also led to renewed calls for the British government to look into the myriad safeguarding and public safety failures in the case. Begum, now 23, is trapped in a camp in Syria and has claimed she was trafficked to Islamic State. She is appealing against being stripped of her British citizenship in 2019.
