Sweden Won't Help Citizens Held in ISIS Camps Return, Says FM

A camp housing families of members of the ISIS group in Hasakah province, Syria, April 19, 2023. © Baderkhan Ahmad, AP file photo
A camp housing families of members of the ISIS group in Hasakah province, Syria, April 19, 2023. © Baderkhan Ahmad, AP file photo
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Sweden Won't Help Citizens Held in ISIS Camps Return, Says FM

A camp housing families of members of the ISIS group in Hasakah province, Syria, April 19, 2023. © Baderkhan Ahmad, AP file photo
A camp housing families of members of the ISIS group in Hasakah province, Syria, April 19, 2023. © Baderkhan Ahmad, AP file photo

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Wednesday that the country would not offer aid to return Swedes that had joined ISIS and were currently held in camps in northeastern Syria.

"The government will not act so that the Swedish citizens and persons with connections to Sweden who are in camps or detention centres in north-eastern Syria are brought to Sweden," Billstrom said in a statement to AFP.

"Sweden has no legal obligation to act for these individuals to be brought to Sweden. This applies to women, children and men," he continued.

The ISIS fall in 2019 in Syria created the problem of what to do with the families of foreign militants captured or killed there and in Iraq.

More than 43,000 Syrians, Iraqis, and foreigners from at least 45 countries are held in the squalid and overcrowded Al-Hol camp in Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria.

Billstrom said that the remaining Swedes, had for several years been offered opportunities to return to Sweden, but had "refused again and again."

The minister added that Sweden was facing a deteriorating security situation and it could not rule out that returning adults could pose a security threat upon their return.

Broadcaster TV4 reported that five children with connections to Sweden remained in camps in Syria.

However, Billstrom stressed that "the responsibility for the children lies with their parents, who have chosen to travel to Syria to join IS, one of the world's most cruel terrorist organisations."



Israeli Commandos Kidnap Hezbollah ‘Naval Official’ in Lebanon’s Batroun

Amhaz's ID card at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute. (Telegram)
Amhaz's ID card at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute. (Telegram)
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Israeli Commandos Kidnap Hezbollah ‘Naval Official’ in Lebanon’s Batroun

Amhaz's ID card at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute. (Telegram)
Amhaz's ID card at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute. (Telegram)

Israeli marine commandos kidnapped a Lebanese citizen in a landing operation in the Batroun region north of Beirut, a Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.

The source said the operation took place at dawn on Friday and targeted Imad Fadel Amhaz, a Hezbollah member. The source did not confirm or deny whether he was an official in the Iran-backed party’s naval unit.

The source said the area where the operation happened had witnessed Israeli activity with Lebanese authorities suspecting that it was a meeting point for Israelis and their agents in Lebanon before the eruption of the war.

Speaking to Lebanon's Al-Jadeed TV, caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamie declined to go into details or answer questions about whether it was thought to be an Israeli operation.

Three Lebanese judicial officials told AP an investigation is looking into the man is linked to Hezbollah or working for an Israeli spy agency and an Israeli force came to rescue him.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to share details about the incident or the ongoing investigation.

Israel’s military said it was looking into local media reports that said its forces captured a senior member of Hezbollah’s naval force during the operation. Israel has carried out in the past commando operations deep inside Lebanon to kidnap or kill Hezbollah and Palestinian officials.

Hamie told Al-Jadeed the man was a captain of civilian ships. He graduated in 2022 and in late September joined the Batroun's Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute for additional courses. Hamie said that the man lived roughly 300 meters (980 feet) from the institute.

Hamie's remarks came shortly after two Lebanese journalists posted a video on social media showing what appeared to be about 20 armed men taking away a man from in front a house, his face covered with his shirt.

Kandice Ardiel, a spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon, denied allegations by some local journalists who said that the peacekeepers helped the landing force in the operation. The UN mission, known as UNIFIL, has a maritime force that monitors the coast.

"Disinformation and false rumors are irresponsible and put peacekeepers at risk,” Ardiel said.