Two ISIS Women Land in Germany after Release from Iraqi Prisons

Two protesters at a demonstration in the German city of Offenbach. Asharq Al-Awsat
Two protesters at a demonstration in the German city of Offenbach. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Two ISIS Women Land in Germany after Release from Iraqi Prisons

Two protesters at a demonstration in the German city of Offenbach. Asharq Al-Awsat
Two protesters at a demonstration in the German city of Offenbach. Asharq Al-Awsat

Two German ISIS women with their three children have arrived in Frankfurt, after being held in a prison in the Kurdish capital Erbil. 

German newspaper Die Welt cited in its Friday issue reliable security circles, that the two ISIS women arrived at the Frankfurt International Airport a day earlier.

German authorities allowed the two women to take their children after undergoing a DNA screening to prove maternity, the newspaper said.

The two women and their young children were transported to Germany on an Iraqi Airways flight, and were accompanied by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police. They are expected to be referred to special guidance committees.

Die Welt sources confirmed that the two women were released and that the Federal Public Prosecution failed to obtain an arrest warrant against them.

However, the Supreme Court authorized federal police to search and interrogate the two women upon arrival in Frankfurt.

Last year, Germany’s Attorney General Peter Frank confirmed that he had zero tolerance policy against German ISIS members who had voluntarily joined the terrorist organizations and then returned from combat zones in Syria and Iraq.

However, the Federal Court rejected their request for detention because there were insufficient evidence of their support for the terrorist organization.

The court distinguishes between male combat duties in ISIS and the duties of others who join but conduct activity limited to childcare and housekeeping. It considers that German penal laws do not apply to such activity. 

Frank challenged the court's decision in January, but federal court judges have not yet ruled on the case until the arrival of the two women to Germany. 

According to Die Welt’s report, there are over 80 Germans who are currently imprisoned in northern Syria and Iraq. Women prisoners have many children, some of whom were born in the war-torn countries and in captivity.

So far 10 children have been repatriated to Germany after undergoing DNA analyses to prove their links to the German so-called “jihadi” women detained abroad.



Kremlin Says New US Base in Poland Is Aimed at ‘Containing’ Russia

Russia, Saint Petersburg: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace. Photo: Vladimir Smirnov/Kremlin/dpa
Russia, Saint Petersburg: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace. Photo: Vladimir Smirnov/Kremlin/dpa
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Kremlin Says New US Base in Poland Is Aimed at ‘Containing’ Russia

Russia, Saint Petersburg: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace. Photo: Vladimir Smirnov/Kremlin/dpa
Russia, Saint Petersburg: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace. Photo: Vladimir Smirnov/Kremlin/dpa

The Kremlin said on Wednesday the opening of a new US missile base in Poland was part of an attempt to contain Russia by moving American military infrastructure closer to its borders.

The US base at Redzikowo is part of a broader NATO missile shield dubbed "Aegis Ashore", which the alliance says is capable of intercepting short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had objected to plans for the base as far back as the 2000s, when George W. Bush was US president.

He said Putin had insisted at the time the United States was lying when it said the purpose was to intercept potential Iranian missiles.

"This is confirmation that President Putin was right. These plans continue to be implemented. This is the advancement of American military infrastructure on European territory towards our borders," Peskov said.

"This is nothing other than an attempt to contain our military potential and, of course, this leads to the adoption of appropriate measures to ensure parity."

Peskov did not say what measures Russia might take in response.