Samantha Lewthawaite left the UK in 2008 and married a man who had ties to terrorist organisations al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab and is believed to be associated with attacks in Africa
Samantha Lewthawaite, the woman who married one of the 7/7 suicide bombers, better known as the “White Widow” might still be alive, according to bombshell intel.
The daughter of a British soldier who went on to become a Muslim convert and was married to Germaine Lindsay, who killed 26 out of the 52 people who died in the coordinated attacks in London in 2005. She has since been wanted for a number of terrorist attacks in Africa after she fled the UK.
She has been featured prominently this week as articles and TV programmes mark the 20th anniversary of the deadly attack. Following her disappearance, she has become wanted in connection with terrorism charges over attacks in the country between 2012 and 2019, killing 244 people.
READ MORE: First responders ‘still haunted’ by 7/7 bombings recall horrifying day 20 years on
Rumours have circulated since her disappearance that she died in a drone strike but a senior source who contacted a reporter at the country’s Standard newspaper claims she is very much alive and was living in neighbouring Uganda as recently as last year. She is now believed to be based in Somalia, and is thought to be part of the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab cell, as reported by MailOnline.
She previously left the UK with her children as a free woman in 2008. She landed in Johannesburg, South Africa, and went on to marry a second time. Her second husband Fami Salim, was a Kenyan with familial links to both al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab.
Lewthawaite gained notoriety for marrying Muslim convert Lindsay, a Jamaican-born carpet-fitter in an Islamic chatroom when she was 18. In an interview with the Sun, for which she was paid £30,000, she branded his actions as abhorrent.
She was placed in a safe house after their home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, was the subject of an arson attack. The White Widow went on to give birth to a daughter shortly after the bombings and she was given the middle name “Shahidah,” meaning “martyr” in Arabic.
Ex-Metropolitan Police anti-terrorism officer David Videcette recalled his views on the White Widow in an interview for the Netflix series, “World’s Most Wanted”. He said: “Samantha played dumb – I am just the wife. I really pressed hard to have her arrested.
“I really wanted her on the suspect list. Sadly, the senior investigating officer felt there was not enough evidence to prosecute and the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] were going to say “no”. I massively regret that she got this opportunity to kill other people.”
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. The attacks left witnesses, including first responders, horrified by the sheer devastation and destruction the horrific attack caused.