Iraq Receives 2,250 Terror Suspects from Syria, Legal Procedures Underway

Reuters

Al-Hawl camp in Syria.

Iraq's Security Media Cell announced that the country has received 2,250 terrorism suspects from Syria and that legal procedures to classify and process them has begun.

Major General Saad Maan, head of the Security Media Cell, told the state media (INA) that the individuals were transferred by land and air in coordination with the Global Coalition and through what he described as significant efforts by Iraqi security forces. He said the detainees are currently being held in secure and organised detention facilities.

Major General Maan stressed that the Iraqi government and security forces are fully prepared to deal with these numbers, noting that the measures taken aim to prevent threats not only to Iraq, but also to regional and global security.

He added that specialised teams have launched preliminary investigations and are categorising the detainees according to their level of risk. This process also includes the documentation of confessions under direct judicial supervision.

Maan underlined that Iraq’s established legal principle is to prosecute all individuals involved in crimes against Iraqis who are affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation before competent Iraqi courts.

He further explained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains in continuous contact with several countries regarding detainees of other nationalities. The process of repatriating individuals to their countries of origin will begin once legal requirements are fulfilled, while Iraqi security services continue their field and investigative work.

The U.S. military began the transfer of thousands IS detainees from Syrian prisons to more secure detention facilities Iraq in a coordinated move with Baghdad aimed at preventing the extremist group from taking advantage of the security vacuum that could emerge as a result of strife in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Iraq’s initiative to detain IS in secure facilities in Iraq while also urging nations to repatriate their citizens.

“The United States welcomes the Government of Iraq’s initiative to detain IS terrorists in secure facilities in Iraq, following recent instability in northeast Syria,” Rubio said in a statement on Thursday.

But he added; “Non-Iraqi terrorists will be in Iraq temporarily; the United States urges countries to take responsibility and repatriate their citizens in these facilities to face justice.”

“This is a critical part of a long-term framework to prevent an ISIS resurgence, in line with proper burden sharing among Coalition members,” Rubio said added.

Thousands of IS jihadists and their families, including foreigners, have been held in detention centers and camps in Syria since IS’s defeat in 2019 at the hands of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) backed by the U.S.-led Global Coalition.

The move comes following the recent tensions in Rojava (North and East Syria) after Syrian government forces launched attacks on areas controlled by the SDF, including sites housing prisons with IS detainees and their families.

The SDF has lost control of the notorious Al-Hawl camp, with the Syrian Arab Army and Damascus-affiliated forces moving to take control of the squalid facility. Reports and videos posted on social media showed a large number of ISIS-linked people escaping amid the security vacuum. 

Iraq has voiced significant concern over the spillover of veteran IS fighters into its territory. 

In 2014, IS seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, declaring a so-called “caliphate” with the northern Iraqi city of Mosul as its de facto capital.

The group’s territorial control ended in Iraq in 2017, following operations by Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by a US-led international coalition. IS was finally defeated in Syria two years later.

Despite the loss of its territories, IS sleeper cells and hit-and-run attacks have continued to pose security threats in both countries.



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