Iraq puts 900 ‘fanatics’ on trial

IRAQ has started trial proceedings for nearly 900 suspected members of the Islamic State terror group caught fleeing jihadi territory in neighbouring Syria.

The Iraqis were handed over to Baghdad authorities by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which ousted IS from swathes of eastern Syria.

‘We received the interrogation files of nearly 900 Iraqi Daesh (IS) members coming from Syria,’ a court official said. ‘The specialised terrorism court has begun setting dates for their trial in batches.’

Iraq has already tried thousands of its own nationals arrested on home soil for joining IS – including women – and has sentenced hundreds to death.

The country remains in the top five ‘executioner’ nations, according to Amnesty International. The number of death sentences issued by Iraqi courts quadrupled from 65 in 2017 to at least 271 last year.

Iraq has also tried hundreds of foreigners, condemning many to life in prison and others to death, although no foreign IS members have yet been executed.