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Iraq Issues Death Sentence against Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Wife

The Supreme Judicial Council said the Yazidi women were kidnapped by ISIS gangs and then held prisoner by the woman in her house in Mosul. Photo: local media
The Supreme Judicial Council said the Yazidi women were kidnapped by ISIS gangs and then held prisoner by the woman in her house in Mosul. Photo: local media
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Iraq Issues Death Sentence against Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Wife

The Supreme Judicial Council said the Yazidi women were kidnapped by ISIS gangs and then held prisoner by the woman in her house in Mosul. Photo: local media
The Supreme Judicial Council said the Yazidi women were kidnapped by ISIS gangs and then held prisoner by the woman in her house in Mosul. Photo: local media

An Iraqi court issued a death sentence against a wife of the late ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, for working with the group and detaining Yazidi women in her home, the Iraqi judiciary said on Wednesday without naming the woman.
The Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq said the Yazidi women were kidnapped by ISIS gangs in Sinjar district, west of Nineveh Governorate, and then held prisoner by the woman in her house in Mosul. The woman is being held in Iraqi custody.

"The criminal court today sentenced Baghdadi's wife to death by hanging for crimes against humanity and genocide against the Yazidi people and also for contributing to terrorism actions," a court official who declined to go on record as he is not authorized to talk to the media told Reuters.

The ruling must be ratified by an Iraqi appeal court to become final and applicable, the official added.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed in November 2019 in a raid by US special forces in northwestern Syria, rose from obscurity to lead the extremist group and declare himself "caliph" of all Muslims, holding sway over huge areas of Iraq and Syria from 2014-2017 before ISIS’ control disintegrated under US-led attacks.

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No Spying Took Place by Employees of Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office, Adviser Says

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq January 9, 2024. (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq January 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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No Spying Took Place by Employees of Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office, Adviser Says

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq January 9, 2024. (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq January 9, 2024. (Reuters)

A political adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has rejected recent allegations that employees at the premier's office have been spying on and wire-tapping senior officials and politicians.

Since late August, Iraqi local media outlets and lawmakers have alleged that employees at al-Sudani's office had been arrested on charges of spying on senior officials.

"This is an inflated lie," said Fadi al-Shammari in an interview with an Iraqi broadcaster published late on Friday, the most explicit denial by a senior member of the prime minister's team.

He said the allegations were aimed at undermining al-Sudani ahead of parliamentary polls expected to be held next year.

"Everything that has happened in the last two weeks consists of media exaggeration contrary to reality and the truth."

The reports have caused a stir in Iraq, which has seen a period of relative stability since al-Sudani was brought to power in late 2022 as part of an agreement between ruling factions ending a year-long political stalemate.

While there had been one arrest at the prime minister's office in August, it had nothing to do with spying or wire-tapping, Shammari said. The employee in question was detained after contacting lawmakers and other politicians while posing as a different person, he said.

"(He) talked to lawmakers using different numbers and fake names and asked them for a number of different files," he added, without providing details.

"There was no spying, no wiretapping."