Iraqi authorities have announced that they have repatriated 50 jihadists from the Islamic State group. They were previously held by Kurdish forces in neighboring northeast Syria. Unlike Western countries, Iraq chooses to regularly repatriate its nationals.
With our correspondent in Baghdad, Lucile Wassermann
Iraq chooses to repatriate its nationals still detained in Syria in dribs and drabs. In December, the authorities had already organized the transfer of 100 jihadists. This Wednesday, June 1, they recovered 50 more.
These fighters will be handed over to the intelligence service for questioning, then tried in Iraqi courts, where they all risk the death penalty.
If Iraq chooses to repatriate its nationals, it is because its American ally, still engaged militarily against Daesh in the region, pushes in this direction.
Washington believes that the situation is untenable in northeastern Syria, where thousands of jihadists are still incarcerated. A time bomb, which Iraq does not want to see explode on its border.
Earlier this year, the country already held its breath when dozens of Islamic State fighters managed to escape from one of these Syrian prisons. Many security forces had then been massed at the border to prevent any infiltration on the Iraqi side.
But this border is long… 600 km, difficult to control. Everything that happens in Syria inevitably has repercussions in Iraq. The authorities therefore prefer to try to defuse this bomb before it is too late.
►Read again: In Syria as in Iraq, the Islamic State group continues to be a threat