Iraq is urging European nations to step up and help manage thousands of Islamic State (IS) detainees, saying the security and financial burden shouldn't fall on Baghdad alone. Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein dropped the truth bomb during a Saturday call with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas 🇪🇺, emphasizing that 'all relevant countries' must take responsibility.
The talks come as Iraq recently accepted 150 IS members transferred from Syrian prisons – the first wave of a plan that could relocate up to 7,000 detainees. U.S. forces helped move them from a Kurdish-controlled facility in Hasakah to secure Iraqi locations 🚨.
Hussein and Kallas also discussed:
⚡️ Rising tensions in Syria after IS prison breaks
🕊️ Maintaining ceasefire agreements in northeast Syria
💼 EU's potential role in mediating SDF-Syrian government talks
This follows Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani's Friday appeal to France and other EU states: 'Take back your citizens linked to IS.' Many detainees in Syrian camps hold European passports, creating a diplomatic hot potato 🥔.
With regional tensions described as 'tense and dangerous,' Iraq's push for shared responsibility could reshape how the world handles post-conflict security challenges. Will Europe answer the call? 👀
