Iraqi court sends German IS supporter to the gallows

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court said yesterday it had condemned to death by hanging a German woman of Moroccan origin after finding her guilty of belonging to the Islamic State jihadist group.

She was sentenced for providing “logistical support and helping the terrorist group to carry out crimes”, said court spokesman Abdel Settar Bayraqdar.

The German national was captured by Iraqi forces during the battle for Mosul last year, the spokesman said, declining to identify her. She is the first foreign woman to be sentenced to death in Iraq for joining the militant group.

“The accused admitted during interrogations that she left Germany for Syria then Iraq to join IS with her two daughters, who married members of the terrorist organisation,” he said.

In September last year, the same court sentenced to death by hanging a Russian man who was captured in Iraq’s second city Mosul and found guilty of fighting for IS.

Iraqi forces expelled the jihadists from Mosul in July last year, ending three years of IS rule in the city.

The same month, a German teenage girl suspected of joining IS was arrested in Mosul, according to Germany’s Justice Department.

German daily Der Spiegel reported she had been held in Baghdad with three other German women including one of Moroccan origin.

Baghdad declared victory over IS in December after expelling the jihadists from vast areas of Iraq it seized in 2014.

There are no official figures for arrests of jihadists during the battle against IS, but Iraqi commanders and Iraqi Kurdish fighters say hundreds gave themselves up.

Others are said to have escaped by blending in with civilians fleeing the fighting. AFP