Baghdad is asking countries, including Belgium, to pay two million euros for each foreign combatant tried on its territory, according to an Iraqi Government document to which Knack magazine has had access.
For six months now, Belgium and six other European Union member States have been discreetly negotiating with Iraq on the financial aspect of the trials of suspected jihadi combatants.
In a document dated 2 March, Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mehdi stressed that Iraq would try foreign supporters of Islamic State in the Middle East (ISIS) according to local procedures and laws and, in that case, their home countries would not conduct any consular or legal intervention.
Baghdad wants the suspects’ home governments to pay two million euros per suspect and per year to cover the cost of food, medical care, staff, guarding, investigation and legal services.
Iraq is also asking for 100 million euros to build a high-security prison and compensation to the sum of 10 million euros for each ISIS fighter it inherits.
According to Belgium’s Coordinating Unit for Threat Analysis, OCAM, 294 jihadis left Belgium to join ISIS in the Middle East. Of these, 151 reportedly died, while the remainder are believed to have been detained in camps or to have vanished without a trace.
The Brussels Times
