- Abase Hussen said maybe his daughter was influenced by attending a rally
- Amira Abase was one of three teenage girls who fled to Syria in February
- Mr Hussen attended one rally alongside one of Lee Rigby's killers
- He said he moved to Britain in 1999 for freedom and democracy
The father of a girl suspected of running away to join Isis in Syria said he took the youngster to a flag burning protest when she was aged just 13.
Abase Hussen's daughter Amira was one of three young girls who flew to Turkey before being smuggled across the border into Syria in February.
Mr Hussen was pictured at an extremist rally outside the US embassy attended by radical preacher Anjem Choudary where an American flag was burned.
He was also seen at a second protest with his daughter outside the Saudi embassy to protest against the treatment of Ethiopians in the country.
Abase Hussen, left, took his daughter Amira, right, to a demonstration when she was aged just 13
Abase Hussen, circled, marched at the head of a violent rally held by Muslim extremists in London in 2012
The 47-year-old who arrived in Britain in 1999 said he regretted attending the rallies along with his daughter who is now believed to be in Syria.
He told The Times that he is not an extremist despite attending a rally where the US flag was burnt: 'It was a mass protest. I had heard it was going on from mosques, so I went there, I just went by myself, I went to show my feelings because my religion was being insulted, my faith. Protesting is not radical, it is our right.'
During the US embassy protest, Mr Hussen was photographed near Michael Adebowale, one of men who was later be convicted of the murder of Lee Rigby.
In one image, Mr Hussen is photographed at the front of a large group of people who were burning an American flag while chanting.
He said that he was opposed to flag burning and felt ashamed by the rally.
He later brought his daughter Amira to a rally outside the Saudi embassy protesting about the treatment of his fellow countrymen in the Kingdom.
He said he and his wife brought Amira to the rally because there was no one at home to look after her.
He said: 'We both lost many people back home, we wanted to try to get help for people back home, too many human rights violations there. Many died. Maybe it influenced her.'
After leaving Ethiopia, Mr Hussen moved to German, but later settled in London. 'I came for democracy, for the freedom. For a better life for children so they could learn English.'
Mr Hussen claimed that his daughter was 'not an extremist' and that he misses her.
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