The population of the Kurdish-run Al Hol camp in north-east Syria has dropped to about 50,000 from a peak of about 73,000 several years ago. AFP
The population of the Kurdish-run Al Hol camp in north-east Syria has dropped to about 50,000 from a peak of about 73,000 several years ago. AFP
The population of the Kurdish-run Al Hol camp in north-east Syria has dropped to about 50,000 from a peak of about 73,000 several years ago. AFP
The population of the Kurdish-run Al Hol camp in north-east Syria has dropped to about 50,000 from a peak of about 73,000 several years ago. AFP

Iraq calls for closure of Al Hol camp for ISIS suspects in Syria


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Iraq has called for the closure of a Syrian displacement camp housing tens of thousands of people with suspected links to ISIS, saying that it has become a “source for terrorism”.

Al Hol camp, named after a town near the Iraqi-Syrian border, is home to people who were taken there after the extremist group's defeat in Syria in March 2019.

“Ending the issue of Al Hol camp has become a top national interest for Iraq,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Sahhaf said.

He called for all countries that have citizens at Al Hol to “repatriate them as soon as possible in order to eventually close the camp” because it had become “a dangerous epicentre” for ISIS gatherings.

Mr Sahhaf's comments, reported by the official Iraq News Agency, were made during a conference in Baghdad on Monday to discuss the camp in north-east Syria. The UN representative in Iraq, members of the international coalition fighting ISIS and ambassadors of several countries were present.

Iraq has repatriated 1,396 families from the camp, consisting of 5,569 of its citizens, over the past few weeks, Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim Al Araji said during the conference.

Despite the repatriations, about 25,000 Iraqis remain at the camp, making up nearly half its population.

The camp holds about 51,000 people, the vast majority women and children, including the wives, widows and other relatives of ISIS members, mostly Syrians and Iraqis.

There are also about 8,000 women and children of 60 other nationalities who live in a part of the camp known as the Annex. They are generally considered the most diehard ISIS supporters among the camp residents.

There have been concerns that children at the camp were being taught extremist ideology by their mothers. Experts have warned that a future generation of ISIS fighters could emerge from the camp.

The camp's population is down from 73,000 people, mostly because thousands of its Syrian and Iraqi inhabitants were allowed to return home. But other countries have largely balked at taking back their nationals, who travelled to join ISIS after the radical group seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Despite the extremist group's defeat in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, ISIS sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in both countries. Over the past years, grisly crimes were committed inside Al Hol.

Earlier this month, the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced it had handed over 50 Iraqi ISIS fighters to Baghdad. It also said it had repatriated 170 Iraqis who were living at the camp.

The Kurdish-led authority in north-east Syria has been urging countries to repatriate their citizens from the camp for years.

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• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil

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Always use only regulated platforms

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

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Zia Mashwani (PAK) bt Chris Corton (PHI)

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Flavio Serafin (BRA) bt Mohammad Al Khatib (JOR)

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Dwight Brooks (USA) bt Alex Nacfur (BRA)

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Abdullatip Magomedov (RUS) bt Sulaiman Al Modhyan (KUW)

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Bio Box

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Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

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Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
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UAE players with central contracts

Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.

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Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

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Age: 23

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Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need

Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman

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Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing

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The%20specs
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Lowest Test scores

26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955

30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896

30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924

35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899

36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932

36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902

36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020

38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019

42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946

42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888

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Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B

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Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs

Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder

Power: 220 and 280 horsepower

Torque: 350 and 360Nm

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT 

On sale: now

Updated: June 13, 2023, 7:47 AM`