Man held for allegedly helping British schoolgirls cross into Syria

The man arrested for allegedly helping three British schoolgirls cross into Syria was working for a coalition country, a Turkish official has claimed.

The official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters the spy was now in custody, adding that the man was not from the country concerned.

"The person was working for the intelligence agency of a coalition country but is not a citizen of that country," the official told the news agency. "The person was not a Turkish citizen either."

The Foreign Office has released a statement confirming that Turkish National Police have arrested a man alleged to have helped three British schoolgirls cross into Syria.

A statement released by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that the families of Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase had been informed.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told media the man arrested worked for the intelligence services of a country in the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS).

A man has been detained for allegedly helping three British schoolgirls cross into Syria, Turkey's foreign minister has said.

The man worked for the intelligence services of a country in the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS), Mevlut Cavusoglu is quoted by Turkish media saying.

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase, all students at Bethnal Green academy in east London, fled the UK last month to reportedly join IS.

Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe apologised to the schoolgirls' families for failing to communicate more directly with them before the girls left on February 17.

Turkish authorities will only treat young people as "unaccompanied minors" if they are aged 11 or under, an ambassador for the country has revealed.

Turkish ambassador in London, Abdurrahman Bilgic, appeared before MPs at the Home Affairs Select Committee to answer questions about three London schoolgirls who ran away to Syria via Istanbul.

Asked whether he thought authorities in Turkey should have stepped in to quiz the girls on whey they were in the country alone, he said that young people were only treated as "unaccompanied minors", and the appropriate protective actions taken, if they were aged under 12.

He said children and teenagers aged over 12 under 16 could only be treated as unaccompanied minors if there was a formal request ahead of the date of travel.

He added that through UK and Turkish authorities working together, sharing information and resources, he believed the three girls could be found and brought back home.

There is "no evidence" three girls who ran away to join Islamic State militants in Syria have committed any terrorist offences, MPs have heard.

Asst Commissioner Mark Rowley told the Home Affairs Select Committee that the girls would be able to return to their families if they returned to the UK.

Counter-terrorism police are taking down around 1,000 sites a week believed to be contributing to radicalising people to extremist views, MPs have been told - though the people behind them remain mostly at large.

Metropolitan Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said officers had several lines of inquiry about people trying to radicalise people towards extremist views, and who may have been involved in recruiting three teenage girls who ran away to join militants in Syria.

He said efforts were being made to prevent radicalisation in prisons and communities, but said the internet was an emerging and growing problem.

He said officers were "sometimes" able to track down those behind the sites, but often they were based overseas, which made things more difficult.

London's police chief has admitted that a lack of Muslim staff in government's Prevent scheme is a problem when trying to tackle radicalisation.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said of 32,000 police officer there were just 300 Muslim officers - and said he realised the ratio was small compared to the Muslim population of London as a whole.

Three girls who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State militants paid for their plane tickets with stolen jewellery, MPs have heard.

The Home Affairs Select Committee was told that the tickets from London Gatwick to Istanbul in Turkey were bought for a large amount of cash at a local travel agent - and investigators believe they got the money by taking jewellery from one of the families.

Earlier, the girls' families told the hearing they did not know how the girls got hold of the money.

Read: Mystery over how girls paid for £1k flights to Turkey