Iraq sentences French national to death for Daesh links

BAGHDAD

Baghdad’s Criminal Court on Monday sentenced a French national to death after he was convicted of belonging to the Daesh terrorist group.

The sentence was delivered one day after the same court sentenced three other French citizens to death after they were convicted on the same charge.

A judicial source told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity that the individual had been handed over to the Iraqi authorities from their Syrian counterparts some four months ago.

Iraqi legal expert Tariq Harb told Anadolu Agency that the verdict was delivered in accordance with Iraq’s anti-terrorism law.

The sentence, however, can still be appealed at Iraq’s Federal Court of Cassation within the next 30 days.

In mid-2014, Daesh overran much of northern and western Iraq.

After a three-year conflict with the Iraqi army backed by a U.S.-led military coalition, Baghdad declared in late 2017 that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but eradicated.

Iraqi officials, however, continue to wage operations in certain parts of the country against what they describe as Daesh “sleeper cells”.