US woman blocked from returning home over Daesh links

In a Wednesday statement, Pompeo said the 24 -year-old woman, identified as Hoda Muthana, “will not be admitted to the United States” as she does not have a US passport or any legal basis to enter the country.

Muthana has been repentant about her presence in Syria over the past years. The woman from Alabama and mother of one has pleaded to return to the United States with her 18-month-old son while insisting that she regrets aligning herself with Daesh, a terrorist organization which is on its last legs in Syria and neighboring Iraq, where it once occupied swathes of land.

The announcement by Pompeo comes against the backdrop of similar statements in Western countries where governments seem unwilling to accept nationals who once easily joined terrorists groups like Daesh without authorities imposing restrictions on their travels and activities.

The interior ministry in Britain said earlier in Wednesday that it had revoked the citizenship of a 19-year-old mother of one who had joined Daesh in Syria four years ago.

The decision came following massive media campaign to depict Shemima Begum a serious security threat once she is back in the UK.

Rights groups have criticized decisions to block the return of Western nationals from militancy in the Middle East, saying the international law bars governments from leaving their citizens stateless as it has now become the case with Begum in a camp in Syria.