Wife of suicide bomber Jamal al-Harith says he 'may have' used taxpayers' money to fund Isis

A suicide bomber who was paid up to £1 million compensation after being held in Guantanamo Bay may have used taxpayers’ money to fund terrorism, his wife has said.

Prime Minister Theresa May has faced questions over whether any of the compensation given to Jamal al-Harith was used to fund terrorist group IS.

Al-Harith died this week after carrying out a suicide car-bombing in a village south of Mosul, Iraq. He was pictured smiling in his vehicle before the attack.

His wife Shukee Begum told Channel 4 News that the sum of money he received from the British government was “substantially less” than the million pounds being reported.

She confirmed to the broadcaster that taxpayers’ money “may have” been used to pay for his extremist activities – including travel to Syria where he joined Isis.

Her comments came after the Government said on Thursday that it would investigate whether there was misuse in the compensation agreement with al-Harith.

Security Minister Ben Wallace told the Commons that he would if any breach was discovered, the Government would take steps to recover the money.

Ms Begum has previously told Channel 4 News that she had flown to Syria with her five children in 2015 to try to persuade her husband to return to the UK after he had joined Isis the previous year.

She said he refused and he tried to stop her returning to Britain herself but she eventually managed to escape with her children.

Ms Begum told the broadcaster that his radicalisation did not begin until 2013, almost 10 years after his release for Guantanamo Bay in 2004. She said his extremism was in response to atrocities committed by the regime in Syria.

She said that he husband was once stopped and questioned by UK authorities for six hours on his return from a trip to Gaza in 2009 but otherwise thinks he was not monitored by intelligence agencies.

The Mancunian, born Ronald Fiddler, had been taken to Guantanamo after being found in a Taliban prison in 2001, but was released to return to the UK along with other British detainees in 2004