France, Iraq to discuss framework for putting jihadists on trial

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Wednesday said he would discuss a judicial framework for putting jihadists on trial during an upcoming visit to Iraq, as calls grow for an international court to judge the extremists.

"We need to work things out with the Iraqi authorities so that we can find a way to have a judicial mechanism that is able to judge all these fighters, including obviously the French fighters," he told BFM-TV, without specifying when he would go to Baghdad.

Seven European countries -- France, Britain, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark -- have during the last months been discussing setting up an international court in Iraq for putting foreign Islamic State (IS) jihadists on trial.

Officials from all seven countries took part in a technical mission to Baghdad to assess the situation.

In a joint statement they said they had learned from the Iraqi authorities about "the daunting task they are facing in bringing Daesh (IS) to justice and rebuilding the society."
Turkey on Monday accused Kurdish forces of deliberately releasing IS prisoners held at a prison in the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad "in an attempt to fuel chaos in the area."