European states are trying to fast-track a plan to shift thousands of foreign Is...
PARIS/BERLIN - European states are trying to fast-track a plan to shift thousands of foreign Islamic State militants out of Syrian prison camps and into Iraq, after the outbreak of fresh conflict in Syria raised the risk of jihadists escaping or returning home.
Europe does not want to try its Islamic State nationals at home, fearing a public backlash, difficulties in collating evidence against them, and risks of renewed attacks from militants on European soil. A core group of six nations, who have the bulk of fighters held in Kurdish prisons, including France, Britain and Germany, have now pressed ahead with narrowing options after ruling out a fully international “ad hoc” tribunal. Such a body could take years to establish and was unlikely to get U.N. Security Council backing.
Three European diplomats said talks with Iraq were ongoing, and that there would be a push to accelerate those efforts in light of Turkey’s offensive, but that they were still some way off coming to an agreement with Baghdad. Those comments were echoed by Belgian, Dutch and German officials. “There are difficult questions to be answered about adult Islamic State fighters with German citizenship,” said a German foreign ministry source.Other than the detention centers for fighters, thousands more women and children are in camps guarded by Kurdish forces in areas not specifically targeted by Turkey. The Kurdish forces have said that protecting those prisons and camps is also no longer their priority.
European officials say their immediate priority is to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump, whose decision to withdraw U.S troops from northern Syria effectively enabled Turkey to make its advance, to reverse his policies and to persuade Ankara to cease its operations.
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