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| Bradford fathers of missing children beg wives to come home amid fears they have joined Isis | Bradford fathers of missing children beg wives to come home amid fears they have joined Isis |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The husbands of two women who are feared to have taken their children to Syria have begged their families to come home during an emotional press conference in Bradford. | The husbands of two women who are feared to have taken their children to Syria have begged their families to come home during an emotional press conference in Bradford. |
| Sisters Khadija Dawood, 30, Sugra Dawood, 34, and Zohra Dawood, 33, went missing with their children aged between three and 15, after they left Bradford for an Islamic pilgrimage to Medina, Saudi Arabia. It is feared the women now have attempted to join Isis' so-called Islamic State. | Sisters Khadija Dawood, 30, Sugra Dawood, 34, and Zohra Dawood, 33, went missing with their children aged between three and 15, after they left Bradford for an Islamic pilgrimage to Medina, Saudi Arabia. It is feared the women now have attempted to join Isis' so-called Islamic State. |
| West Yorkshire Police have confirmed that all 12 family members have boarded a flight to Istanbul, according to the husbands' lawyer, stoking fears they plan to cross the border into Syria. | |
| Akhtar Iqbal, the husband of Sugra Dawood, appealed to his wife to contact him and said: "Please, please call me. It's been eight, nine days, you are out and we don't know where you are. | Akhtar Iqbal, the husband of Sugra Dawood, appealed to his wife to contact him and said: "Please, please call me. It's been eight, nine days, you are out and we don't know where you are. |
| Akhtar Iqbal cries as a pleads for his wife to come home (Image: PA) Describing how he was shaking with fear, Mr Iqbal, whose five children Ismaeel, three, Mariya, five, Zaynab, eight, Ibrahim, 14 and Junaid Ahmed, 15, are with their mother, went on: "I miss you, I love you. All of you, I love you a lot. I can't live without you. | Akhtar Iqbal cries as a pleads for his wife to come home (Image: PA) Describing how he was shaking with fear, Mr Iqbal, whose five children Ismaeel, three, Mariya, five, Zaynab, eight, Ibrahim, 14 and Junaid Ahmed, 15, are with their mother, went on: "I miss you, I love you. All of you, I love you a lot. I can't live without you. |
| "To my family, please, please call me [so] at least I know where you are, are you safe? | "To my family, please, please call me [so] at least I know where you are, are you safe? |
| "I don't know what to say, I'm shaking. I miss you. It's been too many days. Please come back home so we can live a normal life. There's nothing wrong. I miss you." | "I don't know what to say, I'm shaking. I miss you. It's been too many days. Please come back home so we can live a normal life. There's nothing wrong. I miss you." |
| Top row, from left: Sugra Dawood with her children Junaid Ahmed Iqbal, Ibrahim Iqbal, Zaynab Iqbal, Mariya Iqbal and Ismaeel Iqbal. Bottom row, from left: Zohra Dawood with her children Nurah Binte Zubair and Haafiyah Binte; Zubair Khadiga Bibi Dawood with her children Muhammad Haseeb and Maryam Siddiqui (Image: PA) | Top row, from left: Sugra Dawood with her children Junaid Ahmed Iqbal, Ibrahim Iqbal, Zaynab Iqbal, Mariya Iqbal and Ismaeel Iqbal. Bottom row, from left: Zohra Dawood with her children Nurah Binte Zubair and Haafiyah Binte; Zubair Khadiga Bibi Dawood with her children Muhammad Haseeb and Maryam Siddiqui (Image: PA) |
| Echoing Mr Iqbal’s pleas, Mohammed Shoaib wept as he pleaded with his wife Khadija Dawood to bring home his children: five-year-old Muhammad Haseeb and Maryam Siddiqui, seven. | Echoing Mr Iqbal’s pleas, Mohammed Shoaib wept as he pleaded with his wife Khadija Dawood to bring home his children: five-year-old Muhammad Haseeb and Maryam Siddiqui, seven. |
| "We had a perfect relationship, we had a lovely family. Please contact me whenever you want. Please come back." | "We had a perfect relationship, we had a lovely family. Please contact me whenever you want. Please come back." |
| "I'm not angry, please come back, everything is normal, come back to normal life please. They are young kids, seven and five. We had a perfect relationship, we had a lovely family, I don't know what happened. Please contact me whenever you want," he said, before placing his face in his hands. | "I'm not angry, please come back, everything is normal, come back to normal life please. They are young kids, seven and five. We had a perfect relationship, we had a lovely family, I don't know what happened. Please contact me whenever you want," he said, before placing his face in his hands. |
| Earlier, Balaal Hussain Khan, a lawyer acting for the fathers, said the police were notified five or six days ago about the disappearances, and that the men have not spoken to their children since 8 June. | Earlier, Balaal Hussain Khan, a lawyer acting for the fathers, said the police were notified five or six days ago about the disappearances, and that the men have not spoken to their children since 8 June. |
| He told the press conference that there was "no indication whatsoever" that the women would flee or they they had been radicalised, as the family were in regular contact in Saudi Arabia, and the women had said they missed their husbands and were looking forward to coming home. | |
| Mr Khan added that the family practise a "moderate version of Islam" and "at this stage, the family members are law-abiding citizens, there's never been any trouble, never been any suggestion of radicalisation." | |
| "The children were going to school, doing everything normally," he said. | |
| Akhtar Iqbal (centre) and Mohammad Shoaib (right) sit with their solicitor Balaal Khan during a news conference to appeal for the return of their missing wives and children (Image: AFP) It is understood that the women's brother is fighting with Isis extremists, who have claimed swathes of Syria since they established a so-called Islamic State in Iraq a year ago. | |
| Mr Khan confirmed that police are investigating the family member, but said it would be "inappropriate to comment." | |
| "If the brother-in-law knows anything about his family members, please get in contact and send them back if they are in Syria," he said, adding that the men had not been in touch with him. | |
| Mr Iqbal and Mr Shoaib had considered travelling to Turkey to find the sisters, but police advised against it due to safety concerns. | |
| The lawyer appealed for anyone with information to come forward, and said: "If there are any friends of the wives or even the children who might have known about this trip, where they are going or if there has been any contact with anyone other than the family members, we are quite keen on you contacting either the police, my firm or the family directly." | The lawyer appealed for anyone with information to come forward, and said: "If there are any friends of the wives or even the children who might have known about this trip, where they are going or if there has been any contact with anyone other than the family members, we are quite keen on you contacting either the police, my firm or the family directly." |
| West Yorkshire Police are now carrying out "extensive inquiries" and are working with authorities overseas in an attempt to locate the women and children. | West Yorkshire Police are now carrying out "extensive inquiries" and are working with authorities overseas in an attempt to locate the women and children. |
| Additional reporting by PA | Additional reporting by PA |