The widow of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi has been sentenced to death by a court in Baghdad.
She was found guilty by Al Karkh Criminal Court of “working with terrorist Daesh gangs”, Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said on Wednesday, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
While it did not name her, a court official told The National her name is Asma Fawzi Mohammad, known as Umm Hudaifa.
It said she detained Yazidi women in her home and then had them abducted by ISIS extremists in Sinjar district, west of Ninevah province.
For centuries, the Yazidis – who follow an ancient monotheistic religion, but are falsely seen by some as devil-worshippers – lived in the mountains in north-west Iraq where their ancestral villages, temples and shrines are located.
In August 2014, ISIS fanatics captured Sinjar and surrounding villages, taking thousands of Yazidis captive and slaughtering others. Thousands of young women were forced into sexual slavery by the militants while mass graves containing the bodies of thousands killed are still being uncovered.
Others escaped to nearby Mount Sinjar, where many were flown to safety by the US-backed Iraqi forces. Some embarked on a difficult journey barefoot to Syria and then to Iraq.
Al Baghdadi was the self-styled caliph of the extremist group, which overran large areas of Iraq and Syria starting in 2014.
He had a $25 million bounty on his head and was pursued by the US and its allies.
The ISIS chief blew himself up during a 2019 raid by American special forces in north-western Syria, Donald Trump, US president at the time, announced.
Born in 1976 into a conservative Iraqi family, Umm Hudaifa married Al Baghdadi in 1999, she told BBC in an interview aired in May. His real name is Ibrahim Awad Al Badri.
At the time, he was “religious but not extremist … conservative but open-minded” when finished studying Sharia, or Islamic law, at the University of Baghdad, she said.
When the group declared its “caliphate” in areas it controlled in Iraq and Syria, she was in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which later came to be considered its de facto capital.
She was arrested in 2018 in Turkey, a year after declaring the terrorists defeated in Iraq, and sent back to Iraq in February this year, she said.
The widow then faced a case brought by a Yazidi family, accusing her of colluding in the sexual enslavement of kidnapped girls and women.
During the interview, she acknowledged that her son-in-law brought in August 2014 nine Yazidi girls and women to the house. Their ages ranged from nine to about 30.
Two of them stayed in her house in Raqqa for a few days before they were moved, she claimed. But later the family moved to Mosul and another one reappeared, staying with them for about two months, she added.
She denied that she was involved in any of ISIS’s brutal activities.
At its peak, ISIS-controlled territory stretching from western Syria to eastern Iraq and imposed its brutal rule on about eight million people.
The extremist group generated billions of dollars in revenue from oil, extortion and kidnapping.
ISIS still poses a security challenge in Iraq and Syria where its extremists still launch sporadic attacks.
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6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 1,600m; Winner: Marzaga, Jim Crowley, Ana Mendez.
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7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m; Winner: AF Ashras, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
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6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group One (PA) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,200m
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group Two (TB) $250,000 (T) 1,800m
8.50pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
9.25pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group Two (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,600m
10pm Dubai Trophy Conditions (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m
10.35pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
The National selections:
6.30pm AF Alwajel
7.05pm Ekhtiyaar
7.40pm First View
8.15pm Benbatl
8.50pm Zakouski
9.25pm: Kimbear
10pm: Chasing Dreams
10.35pm: Good Fortune
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Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
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Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
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