Latest news with #SamanthaLewthwaite
Belfast Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
White Widow: Banbridge schoolgirl turned Islamic terrorist connected to 7/7 attacks remains at large
Samantha Lewthwaite, known as the infamous 'White Widow' was born in Banbridge in 1983She has been linked to the 7/7 London attacks after her husband Germaine Lindsay killed 27 people, including himself, on a train car in LondonLewthwaite allegedly remains at large in terrorist activities in Somalia The so-called 'White Widow' is one of the world's most wanted Islamic terror suspects. Samantha Lewthwaite has been linked to 400 deaths and the 7/7 attacks, and is alleged to remain at large in Somalia. She's been on the wanted list in multiple countries for 20 years – and she's from Banbridge. After spending her early years in the county Down town she moved with family to Elsbury, near Birmingham. After converting to Islam in her late teens, she married Germaine Lindsay – who would later become infamous for his role as a suicide bomber in the London 7/7 attacks in 2005. The White Widow is rumoured to currently be in the company of terrorist group Al-Shabaab in Somalia. How did she go from County Down school girl to a hunted Al-Qaebeda suspect? Belfast Telegraph reporter James McNaney has been researching this extraordinary story, he joins Ciarán Dunbar.
Sunday World
3 days ago
- Sunday World
Terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite becomes mum-of-six with Islamic militant warlord
The 41-year-old was previously married to 7/7 London bomber Germaine Lindsay – who blew himself up on a London Underground train in July 2005 Samantha Lewthwaite, widely known as the 'White Widow,' is reportedly living in Somalia as the wife of a senior militant leader, according to MailOnline. Now believed to be in a polygamous marriage with Islamist commander Osman Abdullahi Dhaga'ade and his two other spouses, the Banbridge-born woman has reportedly given birth to two additional children, while evading capture as one of the world's most sought-after terror suspects. The 41-year-old was previously married to 7/7 London bomber Germaine Lindsay – who blew himself up on a London Underground train in July 2005 – and is thought to have had four children from two earlier marriages linked to extremist circles. Lewthwaite is accused of being involved in numerous terror attacks in Kenya, where she lived for a time after leaving the UK, and has been linked to as many as 400 deaths, also appearing on Interpol's 'most wanted' list. Sources reportedly told MailOnline the fugitive was last seen on July 8 in the southern city of Jilib – the de facto capital of the Islamic Emirate of Somalia, controlled by al-Shabaab. It's claimed Lewthwaite had also been spotted recently in other areas in the south with the family regularly switching locations for security reasons while protected by an elite squad of heavily armed bodyguards. Somali intelligence allegedly revealed that 'in 2023, she tried to leave Somalia to go to Yemen or Kenya, but al-Shabaab failed to find her a safe route, so had to stay in Somalia'. "The British woman helps recruit foreign fighters, especially women. She gets protection from her husband as he is high up in al-Shabaab. She speaks Somali and Arabic.' An al-Shabaab source said Lewthwaite was 'highly regarded and respected' within the terror group. Samantha Lewthwaite He also told MailOnline: 'She lives in several houses located in different areas. She does not move during the day but only at night and is highly protected by heavily armed elite Amniyat close protection security guards, which also includes women guards. 'The white woman also always carries a pistol and sometimes a rifle for her protection. ''She does not stay in one location for long with her husband; they move around a lot." Lewthwaite was born and spent much of her childhood in Banbridge, before moving to Aylesbury and later converting to Islam. In Kenya, she is alleged to have posed as a Northern Irish charity worker to conceal her identity. She was reportedly using Italian documents and claimed she was working for a charity called Friends of Africa, based in Newry. The charity confirmed it had no knowledge of such a person. Her story is now being turned to film, with Lewthwaite set to be portrayed by Game of Thrones and The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey. Samantha Lewthwaite Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Where 'White Widow' Samantha Lewthwaite REALLY is... as jihadi bride becomes mum-of-six in a polyamorous marriage with Islamic terror warlord she shares with two more women
White widow Samantha Lewthwaite has become the third wife of a fearsome warlord and mothered two more children while on the run as one of the world's most wanted terrorists, MailOnline can reveal. Lewthwaite - the widow of 7/7 suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay - is said to be hiding out with Islamic terror chief Osman Abdullahi Dhaga'ade in Somalia, according to intelligence sources. She is described as living in a polyamorous marriage with a terror warlord husband and his two other wives. Lewthwaite, 41, was thought previously to have had four children with two previous husbands. It is claimed the fugitive - who is linked to a catalogue of atrocities that have led to the deaths of more than 240 people - continues to play a key role within the terror organisation, it's claimed. She is said to help prepare bomb vests and 'brainwash' suicide bombers alongside her husband who is also a propaganda chief for the outlawed fanatics. Sources told MailOnline the fugitive was last seen on July 8 in the southern city of Jilib - the de facto capital of the Islamic Emirate of Somalia controlled by al-Shabaab. It's claimed Lewthwaite had also been spotted recently in other areas in the south with the family regularly switching locations for security reasons while protected by an elite squad of heavily armed bodyguards. An al-Shabaab source said Lewthwaite was 'highly regarded and respected' within the terror group. He said: 'She lives in several houses located in different areas. She does not move during the day but only at night and is highly protected by heavily armed elite Amniyat close protection security guards, which also includes women guards. 'The white woman also always carries a pistol and sometimes a rifle for her protection 'She does not stay in one location for long with her husband; they move around a lot.' He added: 'The white woman works closely with her husband in preparing explosives and the suicide vests 'She is also responsible for training and brainwashing women suicide bombers before they are deployed for a mission.' If the claims are true it would see a chilling switch in tactics for the terror organisation who are not known for using women in combat or suicide bombing missions. Their roles have traditionally involved intelligence gathering and logistics support which are seen as crucial to the movement's military resilience. A Somali intelligence source said: 'In 2023, she tried to leave Somalia to go to Yemen or Kenya. 'But al-Shabaab failed to find her a safe route, so had to stay in Somalia. The British woman helps recruit foreign fighters, especially women. 'She gets protection from her husband as he is high up in al-Shabaab. She speaks Somali and Arabic.' Lewthwaite first came to public attention when her 19-year-old husband detonated an explosive-filled rucksack on a Piccadilly Line Tube train at King's Cross in 2005. Her 'martyred' husband - a Jamaican-born carpet fitter - was responsible for 26 of the 52 deaths in the coordinated wave of attacks on London's transport network. At the time Lewthwaite - who was eight months pregnant with the couple's second child - portrayed herself as another victim of the July 7 London bombings. In reality she was a dangerous extremist hell-bent on plotting her own murderous missions. She fled the country and was responsible for a string of atrocities in Africa while remaining one step ahead of law enforcement agencies and evading capture. A series of mugshots of the fugitive in various guises have been circulated by Interpol since the international law enforcement agency issued a warrant for her arrest in 2013. It followed a massacre after masked gunmen ran amok at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, murdering 71 people. Lewthwaite is accused of planning, funding or taking part in the outrage, along with a grenade attack on a bar in the coastal resort of Mombasa the previous year in 2012 which left three dead. She is also said to be behind a 2015 massacre at Garissa University which left 148 dead and was also linked with a terrorist attack on a hotel in Nairobi that led to the slaughter of 21 people in 2019. Her transformation - from Home Counties prom queen to fanatical jihadist - is, controversially, being made into a feature film called Girl Next Door starring Bella Ramsey from the post-apocalyptic TV series The Last Of Us. It was recently revealed that beyond her notorious image she has remained a fan of pop superstar Beyonce and has compiled shopping lists with British items such as Weetabix when she has been able to source them. Lewthwaite - who is believed to have adopted a series of identities and altered her appearance through plastic surgery - is an unlikely jihadist mastermind after growing up as a shy schoolgirl in the Home Counties. Her father, an English soldier called Andy Lewthwaite, met her mother, an Irish Catholic called Christine Allen, while he was serving in Northern Ireland during the 1970's. Lewthwaite was born in Banbridge in County Down, Northern Ireland, in 1983 before the family moved to the Buckinghamshire market town of Aylesbury. She is said to have been introduced to Islam after her parents divorced in 1994 as she sought comfort from Muslim neighbours who she considered to have a stronger family network. Lewthwaite, who changed her first name to Sherafiya after converting aged 17, enrolled in a degree course in politics and the study of religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in 2002, although she dropped out before completing it. She first made contact with Lindsay, also known by his Islamic name, Jamal, in an internet chat room and they met face-to-face at a Stop The War march in London. They married in October 2002 and had a son in April 2004. Shortly afterward the 7/7 bombings, Lewthwaite, who had been given police protection in the aftermath of the atrocity, cradled her newborn daughter in her arms as she said: 'We are victims as well.' She added of her husband: 'I totally condemn and am horrified by the atrocities. I never predicted or imagined that he was involved in such horrific activities. He was a loving husband and father.' But just months later, Lewthwaite is thought to have first moved to Kenya before travelling to South Africa under her own name in 2008. She was deported to the UK the following year and returned to give birth to her third child at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury in August 2009. Seemingly desperate to return to Africa, Lewthwaite changed her personal details and adopted the name of Asmaa Shahidah Bint-Andrews. She used her new identity to return to South Africa with her three children where she reportedly found work in a halal pie factory. While there, Lewthwaite activated a third identity - that of a British nurse called Natalie Faye Webb, whose details were stolen. She also gave birth to a fourth child at a private birthing clinic in Johannesburg. She later crossed into Tanzania in 2011 and then returned to Kenya - where she began masterminding campaigns. Today the children she had with Lindsay, a boy and a girl, would be around 21 and 19. The children she had with her late second husband, an Islamist terrorist she married in Africa are aged around 16 and 15. They are also a boy and a girl. Lewthwaite has also recently been described as the 'main financier' of the cell of frontline fighters. She narrowly escaped capture in 2011 after Kenyan police discovered the bomb-making factory in a villa in Mombasa. Hidden under a sofa, they found a haul of fuses and 60 rounds of ammunition with magazines of bullets for AK-47 assault rifles. They arrested a British man called Jermaine Grant at the scene who was later jailed but who named Lewthwaite as the senior member of the cell. Police discovered she was in the adjacent apartment – the flats shared the same balcony - but the passport they found was in the name of Natalie Faye Webb. By the time they realised that the nurse had been a victim of identity theft and they had made 'a mistake' Lewthwaite had fled. This is the official version of events which was reported in the media at the time, but her getaway was more controversial, it seems. Local sources claimed officers found Lewthwaite playing with her children when they first entered her accommodation around midnight. They returned to their headquarters saying they thought she was 'innocent' of any involvement with Grant and another accomplice who was also taken into custody. But they were strongly suspected of accepting five million Kenyan dollars (nearly £30,000) from Lewthwaite on the night, which she produced from her handbag, security sources have claimed. The source said: 'She left the flat immediately afterwards. Officers returned the following day after anti-terrorist officers in the UK told them who she was. 'Several posh houses in the Nyali and Shanzu districts of the city were searched but she was nowhere to be found.' Police discovered Lewthwaite subsequently got out of Kenya with the help of a police informer - a woman - who was the widow of a Kenyan terrorist killed in Somalia. It is unclear whether she slipped back into the country again for the attack at the Westgate mall in Nairobi in 2013 or simply helped organise and fund the terror campaign from outside. Among her discarded possessions was her laptop which revealed a browsing history of any ordinary young woman including websites for hair, make-up, fashion, weight loss - and There was a handwritten journal in which she tells herself to 'look fabulous' for social occasions, along with a typical weekly shopping list: '32 eggs, 12 cheese, Weetabix, orange juice and tuna ...' On the computer she had written a poem praising 9/11 terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden while fingerprints found at the property were also said to be hers. And police discovered through a forensic examination of the device that Lewthwaite had spent eight years researching bomb-making and searching for the deadly chemicals used to make improvised explosives devices.
Belfast Telegraph
18-07-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
Hunt for the White Widow? NI-born terror suspect linked to 400 deaths still at large 20 years after 7/7 attacks
A film about her astonishing life will be called Girl Next Door, but Samantha Lewthwaite's neighbours could never have imagined that the young girl who spent her early childhood on the Whyte Acres estate in Banbridge would become one of the world's most wanted terror suspects.
Scottish Sun
12-07-2025
- Scottish Sun
Fugitive ‘White Widow' terrorist Samantha Lewthwaite ‘is still alive and active in terror cell financing jihadists'
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' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) 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. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Samantha Lewthwaite 6 The wreck of the Number 30 double decker bus is pictured in Tavistock Square in central London, 08 July, 2005 Credit: AFP 6 Samantha Lewthwaite has long been wanted in connection to a string of terror related incidents 6 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. read more in world news PILOT 'MISTAKE' Air India pilots made fatal error after takeoff, crash investigators claim 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. 6 Germaine Lindsay and Samantha Lewthwaite Credit: ©2020 Netflix, Inc.
