Iraq News

Iraq offers to try all ISIS foreigners for a fee: officials

Iraq has offered the international coalition to put hundreds of accused foreign "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) elements on trial in Baghdad in exchange for millions of dollars, government sources told AFP Wednesday (April 10th).

Western countries have been rocked by fierce public debate over whether to repatriate their citizens who joined ISIS, which held swathes of Iraq and Syria for years before losing its last speck of land last month.

Around 1,000 suspected foreign ISIS fighters are in detention in north-east Syria, in addition to around 9,000 foreign women and children in camps run by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) there.

Iraq has proposed trying and sentencing the foreign suspects if the coalition covers operational costs, Iraqi officials have said.

"These countries have a problem, here is a solution," one told AFP, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to give details to the press.

"We made the proposal last week but have not gotten a response yet," the source added.

A second official said Iraq had requested $2 billion to try the suspects as "one of several options", and could ask for "more money to cover the costs of their detention".

Iraq has already tried and sentenced several hundred foreign ISIS members, and others are in detention in Baghdad awaiting trial.

They include at least 12 French nationals who were transferred from Syria in February.

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