Iraqi court opens trial of six French Islamic State suspects

BAGHDAD, Sept 20 - An Iraqi court on Sunday opened the trial of six French nationals accused of belonging to Islamic State, with a member of the Supreme Judicial Council telling the court that the suspects could face the death penalty if convicted of crimes committed against Iraq and the Iraqi people.

Two court legal sources said the defendants were among 47 French Islamic State detainees transferred from prisons in northeast Syria last year as part of a broader relocation process overseen by US forces and Iraqi authorities.

The French embassy in Baghdad did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Officials from the embassy were present at the Baghdad criminal court, according to a Reuters witness inside the court.

The six men, who are being tried under Iraq's counter-terrorism law, arrived at the court in a prison van escorted by a convoy of Humvees carrying Iraqi special forces personnel. The men were dressed in yellow prison jumpsuits.

The presiding judge adjourned the hearing until October 5 to allow defence lawyers time to review the case file.

Abbas al-Maliki, a court-appointed lawyer representing one of the defendants, told Reuters his client was being tried on charges of membership of Islamic State.

Islamic State seized large tracts of Syria and Iraq in 2014 before it was driven out by US-led coalition forces five years later. Many of the group's militants were detained, though remnants of the jihadist group still operate.

The United States announced in January that it had begun transferring Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq amid concerns over the security of detention facilities in northeast Syria after Kurdish-led forces lost control of parts of the region.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in February that discussions were being held with other countries to repatriate their citizens and that Baghdad had sought international financial support to deal with the influx of prisoners. REUTERS