Iraq court condemns to death widow of IS leader al-Baghdadi
The Hindu
Iraqi court sentences Baghdadi's wife to death for IS ties and detaining Yazidi women, part of ongoing anti-terrorism efforts.
An Iraqi court has sentenced to death a wife of slain Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on charges of detaining Yazidi women, the judiciary said on July 10.
The wife of the polygamous Baghdadi was brought back to Iraq after being detained in Turkiye, judicial sources said under cover of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press.
"The Karkh (west Baghdad) criminal court sentenced to death the wife of the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for the crime of working with the Daesh terrorist group and detaining Yazidi women in her house," the Supreme Judicial Council said on its website, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
The slain leader's wife detained the Yazidis who "were later kidnapped" by IS fighters in the Sinjar district of northern Iraq, it added.
A judicial source identified her as Asma Mohammed.
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Washington announced in October 2019 that U.S. troops had killed Baghdadi in an operation in northwestern Syria, five years after he proclaimed a "caliphate" across swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.