Iraq sentences sister of former Al Qaeda leader to death for giving support to ISIL

A sister of a former Al Qaeda leader was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court on Thursday for terrorism offences, including providing support for ISIL operatives.

The decision comes as Iraqi courts try hundreds of detained women and their children who lived with the insurgents as they fought government forces.

The spokesman for Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, Abdul Sattar Bayrkdar, said Abu Omar Al Baghdadi’s sister was found guilty of “offering logistic support and help to ISIL insurgents in carrying out criminal acts”.

Al Qaeda in Iraq was the umbrella group from which ISIL emerged.

Little is known about the woman, who was not named by the court. Mr Bayrkdar said she was found guilty of “distributing money” among ISIL militants in Mosul, which was under the group’s rule for more than three years from mid-2014.

Her husband was also sentenced to death for his ISIL membership.

The country’s counter-terrorism law stipulates that aiding or belonging to ISIL carries the penalty of life in prison or death.

Al Baghdadi led Al Qaeda’s Iraqi division since its formation in 2006 and was responsible for the group’s attacks in Baghdad and surrounding areas, including suicide bombings targeting Iraqi security services. He was killed along with Abu Ayyub Al Masri, another prominent Al Qaeda leader in Iraq, in a joint US-Iraqi operation in 2010.

Al Baghdadi’s widow has also been arrested and sentenced to life in prison on terrorism-related charges.

In 2014, ISIL was at the height of its power in Iraq, having taken a third of its land. Haider Al Abadi, the Iraqi prime minister, declared victory over the extremists in December after a military campaign lasting more than three years.

The fate of current ISIL leader Abubakr Al Baghdadi is not known. He has been reported killed or severely injured in air strikes and fighting in Iraq and Syria, but there has been no confirmation.

Since Iraq’s victory, the central criminal court has issued sentences against ISIL women, ranging from long prison terms to death by hanging.

Last month, a court in Baghdad sentenced a Turkish woman to death, while 10 other foreign ISIL wives received life in prison for terrorism offences. A German woman was sentenced to death for providing logistical support to the insurgents.

But dozens of Russian women and children suspected of links to ISIL fighters were handed over to Moscow last month.

Thursday’s sentences came as the International Committee of the Red Cross called for relatives to be given access to detained ISIL suspects.

The ICRC president, Peter Maurer, said countries investigating terrorist offences should “respect the rules of war”.