Fugitive ‘White Widow' terrorist Samantha Lewthwaite ‘is still alive and active in terror cell financing jihadists'

Scottish Sun

3 days ago

A new investigation has given fresh clues as to where the long-wanted extremist might have been
WIDOW MOST WANTED Fugitive 'White Widow' terrorist Samantha Lewthwaite 'is still alive and active in terror cell financing jihadists'
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THE notorious 'White Widow' Brit terrorist linked to 400 deaths who married a 7/7 suicide bomber is still alive and active in terror cells, a new investigation has claimed.
Samantha Lewthwaite has been one of the world's most wanted terrorists having eluded capture for years.
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Samantha Lewthwaite
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The wreck of the Number 30 double decker bus is pictured in Tavistock Square in central London, 08 July, 2005
Credit: AFP
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Samantha Lewthwaite has long been wanted in connection to a string of terror related incidents
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A photo of Samantha Lewthwaite taken from her fake South African passport released by Kenyan police in December 2011
Credit: AFP
Rumours have circulated since her disappearance that she died in a drone strike.
But an investigation from the Daily Mail has shed lights on the possible whereabouts of a figure linked to a series of ghastly attacks.
It comes as Britain marks 20 years since the London bombings on July 7, 2005 this week, in which 52 people died and hundreds were injured.
Lewthwaite, who was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in Aylesbury, was married to one of the suicide bombers, Germaine Lindsay.
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She denied knowing he planned to blow up a tube train, but her subsequent alleged involvement with other terrorists has cast doubt on that.
The now 41-year-old left the UK in 2009 and went to South Africa, before heading on to Tanzania in 2011 and then to Kenya.
Lewthwaite was put on Interpol's red list of fugitives in 2013 after a shopping mall massacre in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in which 67 died.
She is also accused of orchestrating the attack in Mombasa targeting England fans during Euro 2012, and two other deadly attacks in the country.
The Brit has been in total linked to around 400 deaths.
Security services across Africa and the Middle East have tried to track her down without any success for a decade and a half.
At a court hearing in 2014, one Kenyan detective said: "She is a person with multiple identification.
"She keeps moving. We think she is using plastic surgery including her nose."
But it is now believed she is still alive and was spotted in Uganda as recently as last year.
She is allegedly now based in Somalia, where she is part of an al-Shabaab cell - an al-Qaeda affiliate.
"Despite not knowing her exact location, we believe she is active in terrorism activities under al-Shabaab control in Somalia," a source said.
The White Widow was also reported to be the "main financier" of the cell, operating in a logistical role.
In this position, she allegedly controls the money instead of working on the front lines.
She is also said to be a fan of Beyonce and Weetabix.
Police previously crossed paths briefly with Lewthwaite when investigating a property in Mombasa in 2011.
A British man called Jermaine Grant was arrested when fuses and ammunition were found stashed under a sofa - and he named Lewthwaite as the senior cell member.
While cops discovered she was in the adjacent apartment, the passport they found was in a different name.
Lewthwaite had fled by the time they realised the passport was a fake.
This was the last confirmed sighting of her.
It is now alleged the officers accepted a bribe of five million Kenyan dollars (nearly £30,000) from her when they went to the apartment.
In 2018, there were alleged sightings in Yemen where she was said to be offering as little as £300 to the desperate families of young women to persuade them to become suicide bombers.
She has not yet been charged with any of those offences.
As a teenager she was seduced by the teachings of extremist cleric, Trevor Forrest, or Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal.
Lewthwaite even visited him in prison in 2006, a year after the bombings.
Through el-Faisal she met first husband, bomber Germaine Lindsay who killed himself and 26 others on the Tube in July 7, 2005.
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Germaine Lindsay and Samantha Lewthwaite
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