Iraq sends 5,704 IS suspects to trial

Iraq's judiciary said Tuesday it had completed questioning 5,704 Islamic State group suspects transferred from northeast Syria and referred their cases to trial.

Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said the interrogations identified several IS commanders, including senior figures involved in what it called crimes at the international level. It said six suspects were found to have been directly involved in forcing members of the Yazidi minority into slavery.

The council said the detainees include about 3,497 Syrians and 474 Iraqis, with the rest made up of foreign nationals from European and other Arab countries. It said 457 Syrians will be released and handed over to Syria after investigations found no evidence warranting legal action against them.

The United States completed the transfer of the detainees in February from camps in Syria that had been overseen by Kurdish-led forces. The transfer followed Damascus's recapture of territory surrounding the camps.

In April, Iraq handed over two detained foreigners, from Finland and the United States, to their countries after they were cleared of suspicion of belonging to the jihadist group. Another seven Iraqis were also released.

Iraq has many IS suspects in prison, and its courts have issued hundreds of death sentences and life terms for people convicted of terrorism offences, including foreign fighters.

IS swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery. Iraq declared the group defeated in the country in 2017 after a campaign backed by US-led forces, while Kurdish-led Syrian forces later beat back the group in Syria.