RELATIVES of a Scots woman suspected of recruiting three London teenagers to Islamic State have not lost all hope that she will return home safe, the family's lawyer has claimed.
Solicitor Aamer Anwar said the family of Glaswegian Aqsa Mahmood have gone through "real misery" and realise the chances of their daughter returning safely grow smaller every day.
He said that while they have condemned her actions and described her as a disgrace, "they're her family and she's still their daughter".
Mr Anwar made the comments as he criticised the UK authorities over their handling of Miss Mahmood's case and the disappearance of Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase.
The lawyer said: "The family of Aqsa have gone through real misery, they've said it's as though she's killing them every day.
"I think they're now conscious that the window of opportunity to see her again gets smaller and smaller all the time.
"There are so many things that worry them - military strikes, the situation escalating and the winter in Syria which is really hard.
"So it's a case of 'has she been killed by a bomb?', 'has she been killed because she's tried to leave?'.
"At the end of the day, they're her family and she's still their daughter."
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