US-BORN HODA WHO JOINED I.S. NOT WELCOME HOME: TRUMP

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he is barring a Us-born former Islamic State (IS) propagandist from returning home, making the highly unusual case that she is not a US citizen.

Trump’s refusal to admit 24-year-old Hoda Muthana comes just as he is pressing Europeans to repatriate their own IS fighters and will likely face legal challenges, with US citizenship extremely difficult to lose.

Trump said on Twitter he has “instructed” US secretary of state Mike Pompeo “not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the country” - a break with usual US protocol not to comment on individuals’ immigration issues.

“Ms. Hoda Muthana is not a US citizen and will not be admitted into the US,” Pompeo said in a terse statement. “She does not have any legal basis, no valid US passport, no right to a passport, nor any visa to travel to the US.”

I.S. FIGHTERS BANNED FROM RETURNING TO OZ

MELBOURNE: Australia on Thursday announced a two-year ban on the entry of its citizens who travelled to either Iraq or Syria to fight for or support the IS and now want to return following the fall of the terror group.

The Australian government introduced a bill to amend the law in the Parliament.

The development comes days after Trump asked Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back the captured IS fighters, who are citizens of these countries, and put them on trial.