Lord of the Dance
ISIS bride Lisa Smith says she’s ‘not a terrorist’ and ‘not out to kill anyone’ if she returns to Ireland
News

ISIS bride Lisa Smith says she’s ‘not a terrorist’ and ‘not out to kill anyone’ if she returns to Ireland

IRISH ISIS bride Lisa Smith has rejected suggestions she was a terrorist and has insisted she is “not going to kill anyone” if granted a return to Ireland.

The 38-year-old also rejected claims she trained young girls to fight as part of the group.

The Dundalk native travelled to Syria three years ago to join ISIS but has since admitted she “made a mistake” and is desperate to return home to Ireland.

The 37-year-old is currently living in squalid conditions in a refugee camp in Al-Hawl with her two-year-old daughter but is likely to be repatriated.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has already confirmed discussions over her return have commenced though he has yet to confirm whether she would face any kind of criminal charges over her actions.

Smith, however, has been keen to stress she was never a “terrorist” during her time with ISIS and would pose no threat to the wider public.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Smith claimed she never picked up a gun during her time with ISIS and played no part in the training of young girls to fight for the group.

"I'm not a terrorist, I'm not out to kill anyone,” she told the broadcaster.

"Do I have any intentions to do anything? No, I'm just interested in trying to bring my daughter up and get her educated.

"I don't even think I'm radicalised, all I know is I came to Islamic State and I failed.

"At the beginning I didn't come to kill anyone, when I was there I didn't kill anyone, and when I go home I'm not going to kill anyone. I just think I'm the same, you know."