Brainwashed teen girl who fled Germany to become an ISIS bride breaks down in tears as she’s reunited with her mum, adding ‘I don’t know where I got the dumb idea’
Linda Wenzel was just 15 when she fled Pulsnitz, eastern Germany, to join the terror group in Syria
In The German schoolgirl who fled to Syria to become an ISIS jihadi bride has told of how the decision "ruined her life".
Linda Wenzel, who left the town of Pulsnitz to join the terror group when she was 15, broke down in tears when she was reunited with her mother in Baghdad in front of the cameras.
She fell in love with an ISIS recruiter on the internet, who persuaded her to forge her mother's permission to board a flight to Turkey before sneaking across the border to Syria.
In July, Wenzel was captured in Mosul by Iraqi soldiers who dragged the filthy, dazed and wounded girl from the former ISIS stronghold.
Her 48-year-old mother Katharina Wenzel has now flown to Baghdad together with her other daughter Miriam to visit Linda, now aged 17.
Yesterday, German public TV channel "Das Erste" broadcast the moment Linda saw her mother for the first time in more than a year.
"I have ruined my life," Linda sobbed in her first televised appearance since she was found in the rubble of Mosul in the summer.
Linda, wearing a headscarf and dark-coloured Islamic "kaftan" robe, was however seen with a clear smile on her face when she saw her mother again.
Linda told her mum: "I do not know, how I came up with the stupid idea to go to the Islamic State. I have ruined my life."
The German schoolgirl however claims she never fought for ISIS. She said that after the death of her jihadist husband, a Chechen fighter from Austria named Abu Usama al-Shishani. she was housed in various women's quarters, would hardly ever have came out of the house.
During their reunion, Katharina gave her daughter a small cuddly toy with a red Christmas hat to remind her of better times they spent as a family during the seasonal holiday at their home in Germany.
Next month, Linda Wenzel will face trial in Baghdad, with Iraqi authorities so far refusing to extradite her to Germany.
According to sources inside German intelligence and security services, the ISIS schoolgirl is unrepentant according to the Iraqis.
Another problem, according to the source inside Germany's security apparatus, is that there is no extradition agreement between Iraq and Germany.
In September, Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi said that Miss Wenzel might face the death penalty as he explained that the Iraqi judiciary is deciding which charges will be levied against her.
Al-Abadi said: "You know teenagers under certain laws, they are accountable for their actions especially if the act is a criminal activity when it amounts to killing innocent people."
The Iraqi PM however said that it remained to be seen whether prosecutors would demand the death penalty in court as this would depend on the final charges.
The clear threat of a trial in Baghdad and a potentially lengthy prison sentence or even capital punishment has Linda's dad worried.
Reiner Wenzel said: "I want so much that my Linda comes home again healthy. I will always be there for her.
"I fear for her. The authorities absolutely have to bring her to Germany so that she can get a fair trial."
Linda was reportedly active in a special brigade that had to check the attire of women on the streets of the so-called Caliphate.
Women who would not abide to the strict clothing rules, which included a ban on make-up and a compulsory full-face veil, were whipped by the brigade.
German prosecutors of the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe are also investigating Wenzel and three adult women on suspicion of IS membership.
If she would be put on trial in Germany, she might only be convicted of up to 10 years in prison for membership of a terrorist group.