Emwazi 'not huge concern' at school

2 March 2015 Last updated at 10:23

Islamist militant Mohammed Emwazi was never suspected of being radicalised at school, his former head teacher says.

Jo Shuter, who was head of Quintin Kynaston Academy in north-west London until 2013, said he had not been "seen as a huge concern" as a pupil.

Emwazi has been named as the man known as "Jihadi John" in several IS hostage videos.

Two other pupils from the school are also thought to have gone to fight in Syria and Somalia.

Ms Shuter, who was head teacher for more than 10 years from 2002, said there had been no indication that any pupils were becoming extremist.

"I am not prepared to say when the radicalisation took place. All I can say is absolutely hand on heart, we had no knowledge of it. If we had we would have done something about it," she said.

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Jo Shuter spoke exclusively to BBC News and said Emwazi was 'hardworking'

"There was never any sense that any of these young men as I knew them were radicalised when they were in school."

She told the BBC she remembered Emwazi as "quiet and reasonably hardworking", though with the usual problems of teenage pupils.

'Hard-working, aspirational'

"He had some issues with being bullied, which we dealt with, and by the time he got into the sixth form he was to all intents and purposes a hard-working, aspirational young man who went on to the university he wanted to go to," she said.

She added: "I can't stress enough, he wasn't a huge concern to us."

Ms Shuter said the school had had an ethos of tolerance and created an atmosphere "where young people could talk to adults, there was always somebody that was available to talk to if they were concerned."

She added: "I can't even begin to say the shock and the horror that I feel.

"Even now when I'm listening to the news and I hear his name I feel the skin on the back of my neck stand up because it is just so far from what I knew of him and it is so shocking and so horrendous the things that he has done."

Ms Shuter left her position as head teacher in June 2013 and was subsequently banned from teaching as a result of expenses abuses. She has been given permission to appeal against that ban.

'Cold loner'

The BBC has also spoken to a man who came across Emwazi when he first arrived in Syria about two years ago. Abu Ayman described him as a cold loner who set himself apart from others.

Unlike other Britons, Emwazi wanted to appear in IS videos, Abu Ayman said.

"He was cold. He didn't talk much. He wouldn't join us in prayer," he said.

"He'd only pray with his friends. … the other British brothers prayed with us, but he was strange."

Abu Ayman said IS had professional psychologists who would select certain fighters for specific roles.

"Some love him," he said.

"Some joined Isis after watching and admiring him; they take him as an example.

"Isis play him like a piano. He's a celebrity to attract our Muslim brothers in Europe."

"But," he continued, "some think he is showing off; they think he's being used by Isis."

Mohammed Emwazi timeline:

• 1988: Born in Kuwait, moves to UK in 1994
• 2009: Completes computing degree at University of Westminster
• Aug 2009: Travels to Tanzania with two friends - he says for safari - but refused entry at Dar es Salaam. Put on flight to Amsterdam. After questioning there, returns to Dover
• Sept 2009: Travels to Kuwait to stay with father's family
• July 2010: Returns to UK for short stay but told he cannot return to Kuwait as visa denied
• 2012: Passes Celta English language teaching course
• 2013: Changes name by deed poll. Tries to travel to Kuwait but is stopped. Disappears. Parents report him missing. Police tell family four months later he has entered Syria

Timeline source: Cage, London-based campaign group

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Iraq moves against IS in Tikrit

2 March 2015 Last updated at 11:59

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Ahmed Maher reports from Baghdad: ''The capture of Tikrit could be a very good boost to the government forces''

Iraq has launched a military operation to recapture former leader Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS).

Troops and militia were said to be attacking on different fronts, backed by airstrikes from Iraqi fighter jets.

The government says that its forces are advancing into the city but this has not been confirmed.

Tikrit lies 150km (95 miles) north of the capital Baghdad and was seized by IS militants in June 2014.

Major offensive

Al-Iraqiya TV said that IS militants had been dislodged from some areas of Salahuddin province, outside Tikrit.

It added that Iraqi troops and fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella group of Shia militia fighting IS, were moving into Tikrit as airstrikes hit militant strongholds.

Government forces say they are 5km away from the heart of the city, the BBC's Ahmed Maher reports in Baghdad, but this has not been confirmed by independent sources.

Our correspondent says that 4,500 militiamen are reported to be participating in the offensive.

Shia militia have done much of the fighting against IS militants but have also been accused of killing scores of Sunni civilians in apparent revenge for attacks carried out by the group.

Analysis: Ahmed Maher, BBC News, Baghdad

The operation involving up to 20,000 government troops is being backed by an alliance of volunteers mainly from the Shia community but also Sunni tribal fighters.

The Popular Mobilisation Force was formed last summer following the collapse of army troops after IS militants swept through the Sunni heartlands in the north and west of Iraq.

The jihadist movement is backed by Sunni insurgents, who started to take up arms against the Shia-led government in late 2013 after months of protests against what the Sunni community perceived as marginalisation and discrimination.

Several governments have attempted to reclaim Tikrit, the capital city of Salahuddin province, but have failed since July 2014.

The city is also symbolic for being the birthplace of Saddam Hussein. US forces found the former president hiding in southern Tikrit eight months after the US-led invasion in 2003.

If the ongoing military operation succeeds, the government forces and their allies will face a much bigger challenge to retake the main stronghold of IS in the north, the city of Mosul.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met military leaders in Salahuddin province ahead of the advance.

He declared the start of the operation late on Sunday, as tens of thousands of troops and militia gathered in the central town of Samarra in preparation for the offensive.

Mr al-Abadi offered to pardon all Sunni tribal fighters who "who have been misled or committed a mistake to lay down arms" and abandon IS.

He described it as a "last chance", saying that the city of Tikrit would soon be returned to its people.

Tikrit, hometown of former President Saddam Hussein, was the second major gain for IS after the group captured the city of Mosul in June last year.

IS militants hold several areas of Salahuddin, a predominantly Sunni Muslim province.

Mosul was home to more than a million people when it fell to IS after the militants launched an offensive in northern Iraq that saw it seize large swathes of the country.

Soldiers and allied Shia militiamen have now begun to recapture territory from IS north of Baghdad, with the help of US-led coalition air strikes.

At the same time, Kurdish peshmerga forces have been making advances around Mosul.

In February, Mr al-Abadi said that Iraqi armed forces would be launching a major offensive "in a few months' time" to retake the city from IS militants.

Are you in the region? What are your views on this story? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. If you are available to talk further with a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.

Have your say

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More time to question Becky suspects

2 March 2015 Last updated at 12:09

Police have been granted more time to question two people who were arrested in the investigation into a girl missing for more than a week.

Becky Watts was last seen at her home in the St George area of Bristol on 19 February.

Three homes in the city have been searched as part of the investigation, Avon and Somerset Police said.

Officers can hold the pair for another 36 hours. They are also appealing for details of the movements of a car.

Police are trying to trace sightings of a black Vauxhall Zafira with the registration plate HY06 HYA.

They say the "critical time" they need to trace it is between the morning of Thursday 19 February and the following Monday.

They also want to talk to previous owners of the car.

Searches are continuing at houses in Wilton Close, Southmead, at Cotton Mill Lane, Barton Hill, and at the family home in St George.

Forensic officers arrived at the Barton Hill address at about 11:00 GMT.

Aerial pictures revealed that a blue tent had been erected in the back garden of the home.

The BBC's Jon Kay said officers could be seen using ladders to access the house in Southmead and neighbours said a black estate car, which had been parked outside for about a week, was examined and then removed by police.

Timeline of Becky's disappearance

• Friday 20 February - Becky is reported missing at 16:00 after her family says she was last seen at her home the previous morning
• Tuesday 24 February - Her father Darren Galsworthy and grandmother Pat Watts appeal for Becky to get in touch. Meanwhile, the nearby nature reserve at Trooper's Hill is searched
• Wednesday 25 February - Becky's home in Crown Hill, St George, is searched
• Saturday 28 February - Two people are arrested in connection with Becky's disappearance
• Monday 2 March - Police are granted more time to question the arrested pair

Officers have also searched a car parked outside the house, the lake in St George Park and Troopers Hill nature reserve.

Avon and Somerset Police said it was now running six search teams, including officers from Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall and Gloucestershire forces.

A dog unit from South Wales Police will also be helping with the search.

In a statement, Becky's father Darren, and stepmother Angie-Mae Galsworthy, said they "continue to hope" she will be found safe but they were preparing themselves for the worst.

About 150 members of the public joined an organised search of Oldbury Court estate on Saturday in the hope of finding evidence.

But further public searches have been postponed, according to the Find Rebecca Watts Facebook group.

The message said members were "trying to work alongside of the police and help them with the investigation".

"Police have urged us to flood everywhere, especially shopping centres, with posters," it read.

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UK to pioneer lagoon power plants

2 March 2015 Last updated at 03:58 By Roger Harrabin BBC environment analyst

Plans to generate electricity from the world's first series of tidal lagoons have been unveiled in the UK.

The six lagoons - four in Wales and one each in Somerset and Cumbria - will capture incoming and outgoing tides behind giant sea walls, and use the weight of the water to power turbines.

A £1bn Swansea scheme, said to be able to produce energy for 155,000 homes, is already in the planning system.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey says he wants to back the project.

The cost of generating power from the Swansea project will be very high, but the firm behind the plan says subsequent lagoons will be able to produce electricity much more cheaply.

It says the series of six lagoons could generate 8% of the UK's electricity for an investment of £30bn.

As well as Swansea, the proposed lagoon sites are Cardiff, Newport, and Colwyn Bay in Wales; Bridgwater in Somerset; and West Cumbria.

Each will require engineering on a grand scale. In Swansea, the sea wall to contain the new lagoon will stretch more than five miles and reach more than two miles out to sea.

The cost would be funded by electricity bill-payers under the existing government scheme to promote home-grown, low-carbon energy.

Tidal Lagoon Power is in negotiations with the government over how much it can charge for its power.

It wants £168 per MWh hour for electricity in Swansea, reducing to £90-£95 per MWh for power from a second, more efficient lagoon in Cardiff.

'Energy dance'

The £90 figure compares favourably with the £92.50 price for power from the planned Hinkley nuclear station, especially as the lagoon is designed to last 120 years - at a much lower risk than nuclear.

Mr Davey told BBC News: "I can't make a decision on this yet because discussions are ongoing. But I'm very excited by the prospect of tidal power.

"We have got some of the biggest tidal ranges in the world and it would be really useful if we could harness some of that clean energy."

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Roger Harrabin looks at how lagoon power plants will work

How does tidal lagoon power work?

The lagoons operate a system similar to a lock gate to alter the water level either side of a sea wall.

When the tide starts to rise, gates in the wall are closed and water builds up outside the lagoon.

When the tide is full outside the lagoon, the gates are opened and water rushes past the turbines to fill up the lagoon.

When the tide turns to go out, the gates are shut to hold the water inside the lagoon.

As low tide is reached outside the wall, the gates are opened to generate power again as water flows through from the raised water level in the lagoon.

Power firms also like the idea of lagoons-energy because, unlike power from the sun and wind, it is predictable.

Turbines capture energy from two incoming and two outgoing tides a day, and are expected to be active for an average of 14 hours a day.

Mark Shorrock, CEO of Tidal Lagoon Power, told BBC News: "We have a wonderful opportunity to create energy from the dance between the moon and the earth.

"It is admittedly rather expensive to begin with but as time goes on and the capital costs are paid off it becomes incredibly cheap."

Environmental concerns

A previous plan for a barrage on the River Severn to create tidal power was scuttled after environmentalists protested it would prevent the daily exposure of mud flats vital for wading birds.

The Swansea lagoon plan is more widely accepted as it does not impede estuaries and allows the tides to flow as normal - albeit delaying each tide inside the lagoon for a few hours.

Gareth Clubb, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, said the group is broadly in favour of the Swansea lagoon.

"It's not unqualified approval - we want to make sure that the environmental impact can be managed," he said.

"But if it helps us to close Aberthaw power station - one of the most polluting in the world - it'll be a good thing."

Anglers, though, fear the impact of the lagoon on fish migrating to spawn in local rivers which are only recently recovering from generations of pollution.

Phil Jones, who fishes on the River Tawe, said the plan had not been questioned "loud enough or widely enough".

"We would very strongly oppose any plans for this and other lagoons down the South Wales coast," he said.

The firm agrees some migrating fish will stray into the turbines, but project the numbers will be tiny, and that the new sea wall will benefit fish by creating its own reef habitat.

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UK cuts 'concern' head of US Army

2 March 2015 Last updated at 11:49

The head of the US Army says he is "very concerned" about the impact of spending cuts on the UK's armed forces.

Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno voiced his reservations about the falling proportion of the UK's national wealth being spent on the military.

He warned it could see British units operating within US ranks, rather than divisions working alongside each other.

The Ministry of Defence said the government was committed to spending 2% of GDP on defence.

Ministers are under pressure from Conservative MPs and the military to commit to meeting Nato's target of spending at least that figure on defence beyond 2016.

Britain currently just meets the 2% target, but the government is committed only to continuing that until the end of this Parliament.

'Same goals'

General Odierno told The Daily Telegraph: "I would be lying to you if I did not say that I am very concerned about the GDP investment in the UK.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

As we look at threats around the world, these are global issues and we need to have multinational solutions"

End Quote General Raymond Odierno

"In the past we would have a British army division working alongside an American division.

"Now it might be a British brigade inside an American division, or even a British battalion inside an American brigade.

"We have to adjust our programme to make sure we are all able to see that we can still work together."

He described Britain's role as a key US ally as "about having a partner that has very close values and the same goals as we do".

"As we look at threats around the world, these are global issues and we need to have multinational solutions," he said.

"They are concerning to everyone. We all need to be able to invest and work together to solve these problems."

The British army is undergoing a 20% reduction in regular troop numbers, from 102,000 in 2010 to 82,000 in 2020.

This is to be accompanied by a rise in the number of reservists, from 24,000 to 30,000.

The Royal Navy and the RAF are both preparing to lose 5,000 regulars and gain 500 reservists over the same period.

Nato has already set a target that member states should each spend a minimum of 2% of their national wealth - or GDP - on defence.

Watered down

Few countries have met this target so at the Nato summit last September, the commitment was watered down, with the less ambitious goal that those countries that were not meeting the target should "halt any decline in defence expenditure" .

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

People feel that the government's first duty is the protection of the United Kingdom and its citizens"

End Quote Liam Fox MP Former defence secretary

Research by the European Leadership Network suggests that in 2015 only one of the 14 nations examined - Estonia - will meet the 2% target.

While expenditure will increase in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Romania, none of these will meet the target.

Germany, Italy, Canada, Hungary and Bulgaria will cut their defence spending alongside the UK, the network suggests.

Examining current expenditure plans, the ELN concludes that defence spending in the UK will fall from its current level of 2.07% of GDP (£36.4bn) to 1.88% (£35.5bn) in 2015-16.

Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox said Tory MPs would find it "hard to swallow" if defence spending fell below the 2% threshold while a pledge to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid was kept by the government.

'Manifesto commitments'

Former head of the Army General Sir Peter Wall called for the major parties to make general election manifesto commitments on defence spending.

Conservative MP and former Army officer Col Bob Stewart warned that making cuts to defence spending would be "barmy" and said current armed forces were already "reducing day by day".

"We should actually look at what we require - not 2% - we should look at what we require to defend our country," the defence select committee member said.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the UK had the second largest defence budget in Nato and the largest in Europe.

"Decisions on spending after the financial year 2015/16 will be determined in the next spending review," he added.

"Over the next decade we are committed to spending £163bn on equipment and equipment support to keep Britain safe.

"That includes new strike fighters, more surveillance aircraft, hunter killer submarines, two aircraft carriers, and the most advanced armoured vehicles."

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Nichols: 'Test parties on migration'

1 March 2015 Last updated at 11:28

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Cardinal Nichols: "Every party has to be tested on its approach to immigration"

Politicians from all parties must be "tested" on their approach to immigration, Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols has said.

The head of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales said he was "dismayed" immigration was such a big issue in the forthcoming election.

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr programme, he said London would "grind to a halt" without immigrant workers.

Catholic leaders have issued a letter suggesting "key issues" for voters.

Cardinal Nichols stressed that he endorsed no single political party, but wanted people to engage with politics and ask questions.

"I think every party has to be tested on its approach to immigration. No government in the last three decades has solved the problem of immigration, so this is a really difficult issue," he said.

"But what I want to say is these are people we're talking about - the people who drown in the Mediterranean trying to get into Europe, the people caged in Calais because they're desperate. We have to somehow keep the human person at the front of all these issues.

"And remember that this city for example would grind to a halt without the contribution of people who've come to this country.

'Everybody's business'

Asked if he was "dismayed" that immigration is such a big issue in May's general election, he said: "I am, because I do think we need to go back and say 'What is our stance toward the world around us?".

A letter from the bishops of the Church, which will be read out or distributed at Sunday Masses, asks Catholics to reflect on what kind of society they want "here and abroad".

It urges them to consider the stance being taken by candidates in their constituency on issues including abortion, assisted suicide, and marriage.

Cardinal Nichols said that people had become too disconnected from politics, which he argued was "everybody's business".

"I think people are struggling to stay with this very long general election campaign. There's still 10 weeks to go," he said.

"We don't want that to drift away. Nor do we want it to get into criticism of individuals. In a sporting term, let's play the ball, not the man. Let's keep an eye on the issues."

More than 500,000 copies of the bishops' letter have been sent to Catholic parishes across England and Wales.

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Estonia votes amid Russia fears

1 March 2015 Last updated at 07:42

Estonians are voting in a general election overshadowed by security concerns sparked by Russia's involvement in Ukraine.

The Centre Party, which has ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, is expected to do well.

But it is seen as a pariah by other parties, who are likely to band together to renew the current governing coalition.

Estonia was once part of the former Soviet Union but is now a Nato member.

Prime Minister Taavi Roivas has voiced concerns that Russia could seek to destabilise other former Soviet states - a view echoed last month by UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

Mr Roivas has called for an "Estonian-minded government". At 35, he is the youngest prime minister in Europe.

Estonia has seen a number of airspace violations by Russia, and last year a security official was detained by Russia and accused of spying.

The Centre Party leader, Edgar Saavisar, favours a friendlier approach to Moscow, and has suggested that Russia's annexation of Crimea could be legitimate.

About a quarter of Estonia's 1.3m population are ethnic Russians, many of whom are Centre Party supporters.

The country is a pioneer of electronic voting, with a reported one in five casting their vote online.

Voting is due to end at 18:00 GMT.

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Emwazi 'felt like dead man walking'

1 March 2015 Last updated at 03:39

The man identified as extremist "Jihadi John" said he felt like a "dead man walking" after being contacted by UK security services, a newspaper reports.

Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man from west London, made the claims in 2010 in email exchanges with a Mail on Sunday journalist, the paper says.

Emwazi said he had considered suicide so he could "get away" from MI5.

In recent months, he has been seen in several Islamic State videos where Western hostages have been beheaded.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Emwazi emailed its security editor Robert Verkaik in 2010 and 2011.

Writing in December 2010, Emwazi claimed to have met a member of the security services who was posing as a buyer for his laptop.

'Sleep for ever'

He revealed his fears after the buyer shook hands on the deal and called him by his first name, which Emwazi said he had never revealed.

He wrote: "I felt shocked and paused for a few seconds as he walked away.... I knew it was them!"

He added: "Sometimes I feel like a dead man walking."

He explained he did not fear that MI5 would kill him but that he would take his own life, so "I will sleep for ever", the newspaper reports.

He added: "I just want to get away from these people!"

UK security services have been criticised in recent days for not stopping Emwazi fleeing to Syria to join Islamic State.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the north London school attended by Emwazi - Quintin Kynaston Academy in St John's Wood - also educated two other pupils in the same period as Emwazi who went on to become Islamist fighters.

The Sunday Telegraph said both pupils had died fighting for terror groups, one in Syria and the other for al-Shabab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, in Somalia.

A Department for Education spokeswoman told the newspaper its counter extremism division was working "tirelessly" to understand extremism and to offer help to schools with pupils or former pupils who had travelled to "areas of concern" such as Syria.

'Lessons for future'

She added: "The allegations about Quintin Kynaston may be historic and it is clearly a completely different school today, but I'm sure we will look back at the evidence from the time as part of this review to see if there are any lessons we can learn for the future."

Quintin Kynaston has said it is "shocked and sickened" that a former pupil may be involved with Islamic State.

It added: "QK has been extremely proactive in working with the government's Prevent strategy for a period of time and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future."

Emwazi, who is in his mid-20s, first appeared in an Islamic State video last August, when he apparently killed the US journalist James Foley.

He is later thought to have been pictured in the videos of the beheadings of US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, who was also known as Peter.

UK-based advocacy group Cage has suggested that MI5's contacts with Emwazi may have contributed to his radicalisation.

Downing Street said that suggestion was "completely reprehensible".

But former shadow home secretary David Davis said UK intelligence agencies had a flawed anti-terrorism strategy, because extremists like Emwazi had been left free to "carry out evil deeds".

Mohammed Emwazi timeline:

• 1988: Born in Kuwait, moves to UK in 1994
• 2009: Completes computing degree at University of Westminster
• Aug 2009: Travels to Tanzania with two friends for safari but refused entry at Dar es Salaam. Put on flight to Amsterdam. After questioning there, returns to Dover
• Sept 2009: Travels to Kuwait to stay with father's family
• July 2010: Returns to UK for short stay but told he cannot return to Kuwait as visa denied
• 2012: Passes Celta English language teaching course
• 2013: Changes name by deed poll. Tries to travel to Kuwait but is stopped. Disappears. Parents report him missing. Police tell family four months later he has entered Syria

Source: Cage, London-based campaign group

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CCTV shows UK girls on way to Syria

1 March 2015 Last updated at 10:56

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CCTV pictures show the three girls at a bus station in Istanbul

New CCTV pictures appear to show three UK schoolgirls on the Turkish leg of what is believed to have been their journey to join Islamic State in Syria.

Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, flew from London to Istanbul on 17 February.

The images show them waiting at Bayrampasa bus station later that day.

Scotland Yard believes the Bethnal Green Academy students are now in Syria. They are thought to have been met at the border by IS militants.

The BBC understands the girls waited in the offices of two bus companies at the station before taking a bus to Urfa, close to the Syrian border, on 18 February.

From there, they are thought to have been driven to a border crossing point by people smugglers.

Time codes on the CCTV images suggest the girls were at the bus station - which is on the European side of Istanbul - for nearly 18 hours.

The five images were taken between 20:27 local time (18:27 GMT) on 17 February and 13:22 (11:22 GMT) on 18 February.

BBC correspondent James Reynolds in Gaziantep, south-east Turkey, has been told by a man claiming to be a people smuggler that the girls were driven to the Syrian border.

The man, who called himself Ali Kathem, said the teenagers then walked the few steps into Syria.

A group of waiting IS men "immediately picked them up with cars", he said.

They had flown from London's Gatwick Airport to Turkey after telling their parents they were going out for the day.

The girls' families have made a number of emotional appeals for them to return home.

Police have revealed about 60 women and girls are now thought to have travelled from the UK to Syria - including about 22 in the last year.

"When I say young, all but four of those 22 were aged 20 or younger," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball, the UK's senior national co-ordinator of counter-terrorism, told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show.

"The last five who have travelled were aged 15 and 16, so this is a growing problem and it is one of real concern.

"The more everyone involved in travel understands this problem and can be alerted and can be vigilant and can look out for people, the better," she added.

The Syrian civil war has had a "galvanising" effect on people becoming radicalised, she said.

'Younger and younger'

Kalsoom Bashir, co-director of the counter-extremism organisation Inspire, said it was "shocking but not surprising" that young girls were being lured to Syria.

She said IS had a "very specific campaign" to target young and vulnerable women, saying here was a growing tend of women who were getting "younger and younger".

Their campaign targets young women by "hooking into their vulnerabilities," she told the programme.

Girls such Shamima Begum, Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana were victims of "ideological grooming" by IS, she added.

It comes as Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has said officials would have taken "necessary measures" to intercept the girls had they known about them earlier.

Scotland Yard has denied taking three days to inform officials in Turkey about the girls' planned journey.

It said it had started working with Turkish authorities a day after the girls went missing.

They had been studying for their GCSEs. A fourth girl from the school is believed to have travelled to Syria in December.

The school has denied the girls could have been radicalised there.

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Nemtsov mourners to march in Moscow

1 March 2015 Last updated at 12:11

Thousands of people are gathering in central Moscow to honour opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead on Friday.

He was due to lead an opposition march on Sunday but his supporters will now be marching to mourn his death.

President Vladimir Putin condemned Mr Nemtsov's murder as "vile and cynical" and vowed to find the killers.

Mr Nemtsov's allies call it a political killing linked to his opposition to Mr Putin and the Ukraine conflict.

Opposition supporters are meeting at a point not far from the Kremlin, from where they will march to the spot on Great Moskvoretsky Bridge where Mr Nemtsov was killed.

Flags and flowers

Moscow city authorities had previously approved a march for up to 50,000 people but organisers said more people might now attend following the murder.

Many people are carrying the national flag and flowers to lay at the scene of the killing, which is always piled high with tributes. A few were holding Ukrainian flags.

Others are holding placards with slogans such as "He died for the future of Russia" and "They were afraid of you, Boris".

People have been paying their respects at the site since early on Saturday.

One of those attending on Saturday, Alexander Badiyev, said: "This was ordered by Putin, without a shadow of a doubt. They have shown us what the fate will be of all those who are against them."

Former Yabloko party leader Grigory Yavlinsky said: "The political responsibility for this murder lies with the authorities and personally President Putin."

At the scene: Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, Moscow

There's a very sombre mood here, as the crowd gathers to remember Boris Nemtsov. There's still a deep sense of shock at his killing just beneath the Kremlin walls.

He had been planning a rare opposition rally today - against the policies of President Putin. Instead his friends and supporters have come out to mourn his death.

Mr Nemtsov's friends are certain he died for daring to speak out against corruption, against Mr Putin's increasingly authoritarian rule and against the conflict in Ukraine that Russia denies any role in. Boris Nemtsov called it President Putin's "mad, aggressive war."

But above all - there's anger here, at the fervently nationalist mood that Mr Putin's policies have created. One that's fanned each day, by state television.

Russia has become a country where critics are labelled traitors. And now, one of the sharpest voices of dissent has been silenced.

Who was Boris Nemtsov?

Nemtsov killing polarises society

Russian and world reaction

Former UK ambassador to Russia, Sir Tony Brenton, told the BBC there was now "an atmosphere of political hysteria in Russia".

"And that is an atmosphere which has generated a lot of really rather nasty right-wing ex-soldiers' groups to come to the surface. And it is quite possible that it is a group like that that was responsible for Boris's death."

'Contract hit'

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Mr Nemtsov called for "honest elections" hours before he was killed

Russia's Investigative Committee said it was looking into a number of possible motives, including Mr Nemtsov's opposition to the Ukraine war, his political and personal life, Islamic extremism or an attempt to destabilise the state.

A number of pro-government figures suggested Mr Nemtsov had been made a sacrificial victim to show the state in a bad light.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin-backed leader of Chechnya, blamed "Western special services, trying by any means to create internal conflict in Russia".

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin had noted "that this cruel murder has all the makings of a contract hit and is extremely provocative".

Others suggested there could have been personal enmity over his private or business life.

Mr Nemtsov was reportedly preparing documents on Russian military involvement in Ukraine in the weeks before his death.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said: "Boris had declared he would provide clear evidence of Russian armed forces' participation in [the war] in Ukraine. Somebody was afraid of this... They killed him."

Mr Nemtsov, 55, had been dining at a restaurant with his girlfriend Anna Duritskaya on Friday night.

They left together to walk to his flat, crossing the bridge, where a white car drew up and Mr Nemtsov was shot four times with a pistol at around 23:40 (20:40 GMT).

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Sarah Rainsford says the killing has stunned Russia's opposition

Footage on Russian TV showed a white Lada Priora car in the area but there was no confirmation it was the one involved. One shot showed someone running along the road and jumping into the waiting car, which sped off.

In a telegram to Mr Nemtsov's mother, published on the Kremlin website, Mr Putin vowed to bring the killers to justice. He praised Mr Nemtsov's openness and honesty.

Mr Nemtsov served as first deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s but fell out of favour with Mr Putin and became an outspoken opponent.

Violent deaths of Putin opponents

April 2003 - Liberal politician Sergey Yushenkov assassinated near his Moscow home

July 2003 - Investigative journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin died after 16-day mysterious illness

July 2004 - Forbes magazine Russian editor Paul Klebnikov shot from moving car on Moscow street, died later in hospital

October 2006 - Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya shot dead outside her Moscow apartment

November 2006 - Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died nearly three weeks after drinking tea laced with polonium in London hotel

March 2013 -Boris Berezovsky, former Kremlin power broker turned Putin critic, found dead in his UK home

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