Page 10 - Aruba Today

A10

WORLD NEWSWednesday 24 February

AP: Iraqi Kurdish troops rescue
Swedish teen from Islamic State

BALINT SZLANKO Russian opposition activist Ilya Yashin speaks while presenting a report on Chechen leader Ram-
Associated Press zan Kadyrov, in Moscow, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Yashin released a report accusing Moscow-
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Kurdish authorities said Tues- backed Chechnya’s regional leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, of involvement in the killing of Russian
day their troops rescued a Swedish teenager from opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and other alleged crimes.
the Islamic State group near the extremist-controlled
city of Mosul earlier this month, while a local TV sta- (AP Photo/A. Zemlianichenko )
tion broadcast an interview with the girl in which she
described how she came with her boyfriend to Iraq Russian opposition activist blames Chechen
last year. leader over killing of Kremlin critic
A statement from the regional government said the
rescue operation by the Kurdish anti-terrorist forces V. ISACHENKOV behind the murder. two devastating separatist
took place on Feb. 17 near Mosul, 360 kilometers Associated Press Yashin’s presentation of wars. The gruff 39-year-old
(225 miles) northwest of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian the report at the opposi- succeeded his father, the
The statement identified the young woman by opposition activist blunt- tion party’s headquarters in former rebel who switched
name, saying the 16-year-old from the Swedish town ly accused Chechnya’s Moscow Tuesday was inter- sides to become Chech-
of Boras “was misled” by an Islamic State member in Moscow-backed regional rupted by a bomb threat nya’s first Moscow-backed
Sweden to travel to Syria and later to Mosul. leader of involvement in and police moved to clear leader before dying in a
Swedish authorities and the teenager’s family had the killing of a prominent the hall. rebel bombing in 2004.
contacted the Iraqi Kurdish government and asked Kremlin foe, describing the An unidentified protester Kadyrov has used person-
for help in locating and rescuing the girl from the IS, Chechen strongman as a threw replica U.S. dollars al ties with Putin to ensure
the statement also said. top security threat to Russia at Yashin, suggesting per- a steady flow of federal
It added that the young woman was currently in in a report released Tues- ceived U.S. support for the funds and effective immu-
Iraqi Kurdish territory and was being “provided the day. Russian opposition. nity from federal controls.
care afforded to her under international law,” add- Ilya Yashin said he had “no In his report, Yashin ac- His unparalleled clout has
ing that she will be “transferred to Swedish authori- doubt” that Ramzan Kady- cused Kadyrov of misap- angered leaders of Rus-
ties to return home once necessary arrangements” rov was behind the killing of propriating generous fed- sia’s powerful law enforce-
are made. Russian opposition leader eral subsidies to Chechnya ment agencies, who have
The statement provided no details on the rescue Boris Nemtsov, who was to enrich himself and his pushed for Kadyrov’s dis-
and did not say whether the teen was mistreated shot dead on Feb. 27, 2015, loyalists and relying on a missal.
while with the Islamic State group. The Associated outside the Kremlin in Mos- personal army of 30,000 to The killing of Nemtsov, who
Press does not identify minors who may have been cow. enforce his rule. was shot dead while walk-
victims of abuse or may be accused of crimes. Yashin said he was sure the “Chechnya has become ing across a bridge out-
Iraqi Kurdish officials contacted by the AP in Irbil, the suspected triggerman, an a separate state within the side the Kremlin, reportedly
capital of the Kurdish semi-autonomous region in officer in Kadyrov’s security Russian state,” Yashin said. made Putin mad and em-
northern Iraq, declined to provide more details on force, and his alleged ac- “Kadyrov effectively rejects boldened Kadyrov’s foes.
the case. complices wouldn’t have the federal law and ignores The probe into the killing
But a local TV station, K24, described the rescue as acted without Kadyrov’s the Russian constitution.” has bogged down, how-
a “unique military operation” and late Tuesday night approval. Kadyrov has de- President Vladimir Putin ever, apparently reflect-
broadcast an exclusive interview with the teen in nied the accusations and has relied on Kadyrov to ing Putin’s view of Kadyrov
which she describes what had happened to her in the official probe has failed stabilize the region in Rus- as a linchpin of stability in
the last two years. to identify the mastermind sia’s North Caucasus after Chechnya.q
The girl recounts how she stopped going to school
at the age of 14 and met her boyfriend that year. At
first all was fine, she says, but then he started speak-
ing more and more about “ISIS videos.”
“I didn’t know what ISIS means, or Islam,” she said,
using an alternative acronym for the IS group.
The boyfriend convinced her to “go to ISIS in Syria”
and the pair left Sweden by train on May 31, 2015,
she said, recounting their subsequent journey across
Europe until they reached Turkey and crossed into
Syria and from there, they ended up in the Iraqi city
of Mosul.
They were given a house but it was without electric-
ity or water, she said, adding that it was “totally dif-
ferent” from Sweden.
After a while, she got a mobile phone and contact-
ed her mother, saying she wanted to come back to
Sweden.