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Man held for allegedly helping British schoolgirls cross into Syria

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.

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Syria runaway girls 'paid for tickets with stolen jewellery'

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.

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