White Widow
Ulster terror queen Samantha Lewthwaite set out to find another violent jihadi husband after she was widowed in the 7/ 7 bombings.
And she revelled in her role as a martyr before fleeing the UK to join terror cell al Shabaab, a new documentary reveals.
Now regarded as the world’s most wanted woman Banbridge-born Lewthwaite’s terror role is exposed this week in a BBC probe which traces her movements through Africa.
She moved from the UK in 2007 and lived under an assumed identity in South Africa before she resurfaced in Kenya in 2011, travelling on false papers.
The mother of four, dubbed the White Widow, had claimed she knew nothing about husband Jermaine Lindsay’s role in the 7/ 7 bombings. He was one of four bombers who claimed 26 lives in 2005.
But her involvement since then in a number of atrocities has cast doubt on her version of events.
In The White Widow: Searching for Samantha film maker Adam Wishart tracks down her former friends who reveal that Lewthwaite had a choice between life as a single parent or a martyr who associated with fanatical Muslims after the bombings.
She chose the latter, and even set out to find herself another husband involved in violence.
Former pal Kerry Bullivant tells the programme: “From some of the people I know of who had discussions with her she was looking for a husband who was still looking to be involved in violent jihad.
“In a way those guys are kind of like rock stars. They are on the edges of society. They are not willing to play by the rules. Some people find that bad boy on the edge of the law quite attractive.
“In their eyes they are brave enough and strong enough to be willing to sacrifice everything,” he says.
A security expert also tells the film maker that Lewthwaite should have been under greater surveillance.
“I feel she became a little bit of a figurehead in some circles. The credibility was raised. The notoriety was raised. Post-event, perhaps one year afterwards, someone whether it’s the police or whoever, should have looked at her and said could this be the catalyst for other events.”
Lewthwaite is being pursued by the UK and US authorities as well as security forces in Africa.
The 30-year-old was linked to a bomb plot in the Kenyan port of Mombasa in 2011, when Interpol issued a Red Notice arrest warrant for her.
That plan was attributed to the al Qaeda-linked cell Al Shabaab, which carried out the attack on the Westwood shopping centre in Nairobi in September last year. The prolonged shoot out claimed 67 lives, including several young children.
Police in Kenya also reported a woman matching her description was seen near a bar in Mombasa in June 2012 minutes before a
grenade attack, which killed three people. The attack, which injured 25 people, took place as customers watched England play Italy in the Euro 2012 championship.
Last month it was reported that Lewthwaite had married a Somali warlord, Sheikh Hassan, said to be a senior figure in Al Shabaab.
Lewthwaite still has family connections to Northern Ireland in Whyte Acres estate in Banbridge, where she grew up. Her grandmother Elizabeth Allen still lives there.
Mum Christine Allen married Lewthwaite’s dad Andy, a British soldier, in the 1970s and the pair set up home in the Co. Down town.
She enjoyed a quiet childhood in Banbridge before the couple moved to Aylesbury in England. When their marriage disintegrated Samantha turned to a local Muslim family for comfort, eventually adopting the hijab and changing her name to Sherafiyah when she converted to Islam at the age of 17.
Former pals say she lacked confidence as her family life broke down, and the new documentary reveals it was a hate preacher who radicalised her and set her on the road to becoming one of the world’s most notorious terrorists.
lThe White Widow: Searching for Samantha is on BBC1 on Wednesday at 11.05pm.
roisin.gorman@sundayworld.com