Trump – UK must jail home-grown terrorists
DONALD Trump yesterday called on Britain to bring back its home-grown Islamic State fighters and put them on trial.
The US President said the UK and other European states should “step up” and take control of any citizens now besieged or captured in Syria.
Senior US officials have warned that about 800 IS fighters now in the Middle East will escape and cause carnage in the West, unless prosecuted and jailed.
The US believes Britain and Europe have adopted a policy of simply ignoring the fanatics and hoping they “don’t find a way back”.
But the president said yesterday: “The caliphate is ready to fall.
“The alternative is not a good one. We will be forced to release them. The US does not want to watch as IS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go.” He implied that the US is leading the way in dealing with the threat of returners, as he appealed for other western powers to join in. “We do so much, and spend so much,” he tweeted. “Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing. We are pulling back after 100 per cent caliphate victory.” The issue of fleeing IS fighters has emerged as the terror group is hemmed into a tiny area of less than a square mile.
At the height of their fouryear reign of terror, the extremists held almost a third of Iraq and Syria.
Ciya Furat, from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces at the forefront of the final conflict, predicted a swift victory. He said: “We will very soon bring good news to the whole world.”
Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said he “will not hesitate” to bar Britons who joined IS from returning.
Lord Dannatt, former head of the Army, agreed with Mr Trump, yesterday.
He said: “Taking responsibility means we bring them back, we talk to them, we investigate them. If there are charges to be laid, then that should be the case.
“They should be put through the judicial process and punished accordingly.”