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A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 9 January 2019

8PM

Fate of detained IS fighters uncertain as US exits Syria

By DEB RIECHMANN and Donald Trump’s Dec. 19 or- tee of safety for the Kurdish
SUSANNAH GEORGE, Asso- der to withdraw the 2,000 fighters who have fought
ciated Press American troops from Syr- alongside U.S. troops
WASHINGTON (AP) — What ia, where they have been against the Islamic State.
to do with hundreds of for- working alongside the U.S.- There are fears that the
eign Islamic State fighters backed Syrian Defense U.S. withdrawal will leave
captured in Syria has be- Forces to fight the Islamic a door open for Turkey to
come a critical and grow- State group since 2015. assault the U.S.-allied SDF
ing problem for the Trump But there are no easy an- fighters. Turkey views them
administration as it pre- swers. The official, speaking as part of a terrorist group
pares to pull troops out of on condition of anonymity, linked to an insurgency
the country. said releasing the fighters, within its own borders. SDF
A senior administration of- among them Europeans commanders have warned
ficial said Tuesday that re- and some U.S. citizens, that they will be unable
solving the fate of these would be “unacceptable” to hold the 700 prisoners if
prisoners is a top prior- since they could simply re- Turkish forces invade Syria
ity as the government lays join the remnants of Islam- following a U.S. withdrawal.
the groundwork with allies ic State fighters in Syria or In this July 21, 2017, file photo, Kurdish soldiers from the Anti- Administration officials so
to comply with President elsewhere. Terrorism Units, carry a blindfolded an Indonesian man suspect- far do not have a plan for
ed of Islamic State membership, at a security center, in Kobani, what to do with the prison-
Syria. ers, according to a sepa-
Associated Press. rate U.S. official, who said
“This matters because SDF joined or tried to join ISIS. that few countries have
holds hundreds of IS fighters, And sometimes it’s still an- been willing to accept
including many European other thing for the govern- any of their captured citi-
citizens, and they might go ment to be able to mount zens. Both officials spoke
free if no solution is found,” confidently a criminal on condition of anonymity
said Bobby Chesney, a na- prosecution against that because they weren’t au-
tional security law expert at individual,” said Joshua thorized to disclose the in-
the University of Texas. Geltzer, a senior counter- formation publicly.
European nations have terrorism official under Pres- In a recent case of an
been reluctant to take ident Barack Obama. American suspected of IS
back citizens with ties to Meanwhile, the prisoner membership, U.S. officials
the Islamic State, not want- problem is only growing wrestled for more than a
ing the legal challenge of worse. year, never charged him
prosecuting them or the On Sunday, the Syrian De- and then ultimately re-
potential security risk if they fense Forces announced leased him in Bahrain.
are released. the capture of five fight- The problem has been fur-
And moving former fighters ers, including two U.S. citi- ther complicated by con-
to the United States poses zens, one of whom has flicting reports of Trump’s
some of the same chal- been identified as a former timeline for recalling the
lenges the U.S. has faced school teacher from Hous- 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria.
with men detained at the ton. When he made his surprise
military base at Guanta- Secretary of State Mike announcement of the with-
namo Bay, Cuba, includ- Pompeo just began a drawal three weeks ago,
ing whether it’s feasible to tour of eight Middle East- Trump said he wanted to
prosecute militants cap- ern nations to discuss the complete it quickly. His
tured on the battlefields of withdrawal of the Ameri- abrupt decision led to the
northern Syria, according can troops. National se- resignations of Defense
to experts. curity adviser John Bolton Secretary Jim Mattis and
“It’s one thing for the gov- returned Tuesday from a Brett McGurk, special presi-
ernment to be very con- meeting in Turkey, where dential envoy for the glob-
fident that an individual he was seeking a guaran- al coalition to defeat IS.q