US: We won't take back Alabama IS woman
February 20, 2019
The United States will not repatriate a woman who left the country to join the "Islamic State" (IS) jihadi group in Syria, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.
"Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a US citizen and will not be admitted into the United States. She does not have any legal basis, no valid US passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the United States," Pompeo said.
US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had "instructed" Pompeo to prevent Muthana's return.
Muthana, 24, is in Kurdish custody with her 18-month-old son and says she was brainwashed by IS after she left the state of Alabama in 2014.
Read more: UK intends to revoke citizenship of IS bride Shamima Begum
Dispute over citizenship
A lawyer for Muthana's family told The Associated Press that she was born in New Jersey to Yemini parents in 1994. The United States usually grants automatic citizenship to anyone born in the country, but makes an exception to children who are born to diplomats.
"They're claiming her dad was a diplomat when she was born, which, in fact, he wasn't," said lawyer Hassan Shibly.
Shortly after arriving in Syria, Muthana published a picture online that showed four women setting their passports on fire. One of them was a US passport.
During the next few years, she posted messages on social media espousing IS propaganda and called on people to kill Americans.
Trump has demanded that European countries repatriate their citizens who had joined IS as foreign fighters or joined them as family members. Many are in the detention of Kurdish-Syrian forces.
amp/cmk (AFP, dpa, AP)