British husbands beg wives to return home amid ISIL fears

Police on Tuesday are trying to establish the whereabouts of the Dawood family, from Bradford, England, who disappeared after going to Saudi Arabia.

Akhtar Iqbal, husband of Sugra Dawood, left, , and Mohammad Shoaib, husband of Khadija Dawood, at a Bradford news conference to appeal for the return of their wives and children who are suspected of having travelled to Syria to join extremists there. Paul Ellis/AFP Photo
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BRADFORD, UK // Two British fathers whose wives and children are suspected to have travelled to join extremists in Syria made tearful appeals for them to return home on Tuesday.

The 12 family members, from Bradford in northern England, went missing after travelling to Medina in Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage.

Sisters Sugra Dawood, 34, Zohra Dawood, 33, and Khadija Dawood, 30, travelled to Medina with their nine children, between the ages of three and 15, on May 28.

“All of you, I can’t live without you. Please, please come back home,” said Akhtar Iqbal, husband of Sugra Dawood at an emotional press conference in Bradford.

Mohammed Shoaib, husband of Khadija Dawood, said: “We had a perfect relationship, we had a lovely family. Please contact me whenever you want. Please come back.”

Balaal Khan, a lawyer for the children’s fathers, said the sisters were believed to have a relative fighting for either the ISIL group or another extremist organisation in Syria, and it was feared they have gone to see him.

Mr Khan said the fathers last spoke to their children on June 8, and appealed for anyone with any information about the missing women to come forward.

“They have been distraught, crying, they don’t know what to do,” he said of the fathers.

The women and children were due to return to Bradford last Thursday.

Preliminary inquiries suggest at least 10 family members boarded a flight from Medina to Istanbul – a commonly used route into Syria.

An eight-year-old and a five-year-old in the group are not believed to have boarded the same flight.

The counter-terrorism unit of the regional police force is leading the investigation.

“We are extremely concerned for the safety of the family and would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak to us, Russ Foster, an assistant chief police constable, said.

“There are lines of enquiry being progressed with the Turkish authorities and the possibility of the family attempting to travel to Syria is being explored,” he said, adding however that the police were “keeping an open mind” about what might have happened.

* Agence France-Presse