Questions remain about jihadi bride Shamima Begum despite her very western makeover

She is dressed in the casual, ‘urban cool’ uniform of the London 20-something: skinny jeans, unzipped hoodie, Nike baseball cap, trendy shades.Her hair dyed and straightened in the style of her generation.She really could be any young woman about town.But this is not any young woman. This is Shamima Begum, the teenager who fled Britain in 2015 to marry an Isis fighter.The now 21-year-old who described with chilling nonchalance how she ‘wasn’t fazed’ by the sight of a severed head. Who declared how she had a ‘good time’ with Isis, and who justified the bombing of Manchester Arena.When pictures emerged of her this week at the Syrian internment camp, they were bound to cause consternation.Many, including her own family, would struggle to immediately recognise her. Gone is the black, full-length chador and black hijab which used to frame her face that now bears the suggestion of a smile.And now the Mail can reveal the truth about Ms Begum’s new life at the al-Roj detention centre in north-east Syria, where she has been living for the past two years. Speaking to her closest associates, we have learned how she spends her days watching Good Morning Britain on ITV in her tent, playing charades or dancing to the music of Shakira downloaded from the internet with her fellow Western campmates. She is also fond of Zumba classes and watching films: the Spider-Man and Men In Black franchises are particular favourites.She isn’t ‘that’ person any more: ‘I would say to people in the UK, give me a second chance because I was still young when I left,’ she pleaded this week in an emotive interview for a new documentary. Her rejection of Islamic clothing is evidence, for some, at least, that she has renounced her past.Others believe her transformation is part of a ploy to win sympathy while her lawyers challenge the decision to strip her of her British citizenship. Last month, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled on national security grounds that she cannot return to Britain to pursue an appeal against the decision.Either way, her striking new image has turned the global spotlight on to Shamima Begum and her life at al-Roj. She is among a 50-strong British contingent of women and children at the encampment, which houses around 800 families in total.Modern luxuries aside, few of us would wish to spend any time in this sprawling, tented shanty town. Yet to those who were captured following the collapse of the murderous caliphate, it is the nearest thing they have had to a home for some considerable time and infinitely preferable to the previous camp where most of them, including Ms Begum, were transferred from, and where there have been 40 murders so far this year. The authorities at al-Roj — the Kurdish-led and Western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces — have banned black clothing, the colour of Isis, and black face veils.A number of woman, like Ms Begum, have voluntarily given up Islamic dress entirely. And, we can reveal, they appear to be enjoying the Western lifestyle whe