Iraq offers to hang British jihadis... if we pay millions
‘A solution to the problem’
BRITISH fanatics face the prospect of death by hanging in Iraq after Baghdad offered to put foreign jihadis on trial in exchange for millions of pounds.
Iraqi officials said their government had proposed trying and sentencing the foreign suspects if the US-led coalition covered the costs.
Debate is raging about what the UK should do about its dozens of fighters and jihadi brides languishing in prison or camps following the fall of Islamic State in its Middle East homeland.
A source said Iraq had proposed setting up a ‘special tribunal’ for foreigners and there had been a ‘constructive’ beginning to the discussions.
‘These countries have a problem, here’s a solution,’ said an official, speaking under the guarantee of anonymity. The official added that Iraq had proposed a rate of $ 2 million (£1.52 million) per suspect per year.
Two members of an Islamic State terror cell known as the ‘Beatles’ – El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey – are in a prison in Syria. Two other British citizens jailed in Syria – Mohammad Anwar Miah and Muslim convert Jack Letts, known as ‘ Jihadi Jack’ – have pleaded to be allowed back to Britain.
Last night the Foreign Office said it was against the death penalty, but added: ‘Those who have fought for or supported Daesh (Islamic State), whatever their nationality, should face justice for their crimes in the most appropriate jurisdiction – often, in the region where their offences have been committed.’
But the prospect of UK citizens facing trial in Baghdad was criticised last night. Reprieve director Maya Foa said: ‘ British nationals being sentenced to death after ten-minute trials tainted by torture is the opposite of justice, and a shocking abdication of British values and our longstanding opposition to the death penalty and torture. Britain shouldn’t be outsourcing justice to the deeply flawed Iraqi court system, when the UK legal process offers a far better chance of effective prosecutions.’
Independent MP John Woodcock added: ‘Brits who travelled to support Daesh do put themselves at risk of being subjected to foreign judicial systems.
‘But Britain’s strength in defeating Islamist terror rests upon our determination to uphold liberal democratic values and the rule of law. We risk undermining that strength if we actively facilitate Brits facing execution in courts that fall far below the UK’s own judicial standards.’
About 1,000 suspected foreign IS fighters are in detention in north- east Syria, in addition to 9,000 foreign women and children in Kurdish-run camps there. An international row was sparked over what to do with them when London schoolgirl Shamima Begum was found in a refugee camp in Northern Syria.
There are believed to be dozens more British jihadi wives and their children in camps in the region. Britain and other nations have refused to take them back and Home Secretary Sajid Javid sparked an outcry when he stripped Begum of her citizenship.
The Government said a ‘small number’ of British children returned to the UK from Syria via third countries last year. They are among more than 400 British citizens who have returned from the war zone since the conflict began.
British officials were not involved in helping them leave the country, Home Office minister Baroness Williams said.