Earlier this month, Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported that women affiliated with ISIS had been smuggled out of a detention camp in north-east Syria.
One of the women who escaped, and who claimed to be from the UK, published a video on extremist channels and on a secure messaging platform, Telegram, calling on members of the self-proclaimed caliphate to raise more funds to help others escape the camp.
Others who had apparently fled from Al Hol, a detention facility housing hundreds of ISIS suspects who were trapped in the terrorist group's last redoubt as it faced defeat at the hands of Kurdish militiamen backed by the US-led coalition, included European ISIS supporters who had languished there for months.
The Kurdish militias said late last week that they had foiled another attempt at escape by ISIS-affiliated women who were attempting to smuggle themselves and their children.
These incidents show the short-sightedness of the American and Western strategy in Syria and the cowardice with which some members of the anti-ISIS coalition conducted themselves in the aftermath, refusing to reckon with the crisis of ISIS foreign fighters from their nations.
Their abandonment, instead of repatriating them and putting them on trial, may end up fuelling a resurgence of the group and its fortunes and constitutes a grave moral failure.
In early 2019, the US-led coalition defeated the terrorist group after a gruelling multi-year campaign to reverse its territorial gains. The group lost in its two largest cities, Mosul and Raqqa, in battles led on the ground by Iraqi troops and Syrian Kurdish militias respectively. After the group’s defeat, the US administration of Donald Trump scaled back the American presence, exposing their Kurdish allies.
Hundreds of ISIS prisoners from foreign countries were left to languish in Iraqi courts and jails. In Syria, many of these foreign fighters and their families were left in Kurdish-controlled prisons, filled to capacity, from where some of the more prominent ones pleaded with their home countries to repatriate them. The Kurds did not have the resources to guard these detention centres in the long term.
US involvement in the conflict began in earnest because of the televised executions of American journalists and citizens, and ISIS’s surge into Iraq in 2014. The campaign’s original sin was its narrow focus on counter-terrorism, taking great pains to avoid dealing with the actual crisis that created the conditions for the terrorist group’s emergence in the first place – the sheer brutality that Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad meted out to protesters who rose up to demand reforms and dignity, a decision that led to civil war.
European powers and intelligence services turned a blind eye to these recruits, hoping they would die abroad or become someone else's problem
Six years after ISIS's deceased leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi declared a so-called caliphate spanning a great expanse of territory across Syria and Iraq, the group has been militarily crushed. This is a far cry from its peak, when it was attracting legions of foreign recruits from all corners of the world, aspiring to live out an anarchist, blood-soaked fantasy.
A number of European powers and intelligence services turned a blind eye to these recruits as they travelled through their countries’ capitals to Turkey in order to join the 'caliphate', hoping they would die abroad or become someone else’s problem.
Many of them did either die or become someone else’s problem. While some fighters have been repatriated, many remain in limbo, being left to deal with by America and allies of the West.
Those who have returned to their home countries are only going to be tried for violating their countries' terrorism statutes. Or they will be put through rehabilitation programmes, rather than be made to answer for the crimes they perpetrated during the group’s rampage in the Middle East – little comfort for their Arab, Kurdish, Yazidi, Muslim and Christian victims.
As the coalition went on with its mission, Mr Al Assad and his allies were free to subdue and brutalise his citizens, crushing the rebellion and presiding over a shattered Syria.
No reforms are forthcoming to redress the pain that the Syrian people endured for having the temerity to ask to live in dignity, free from the violations of his security services.
With more than half a million people dead and half of Syria's population dispossessed and displaced, with no justice in sight, it is delusional to think that peace will now prevail, and that the conditions that allowed ISIS to emerge in the first place are now resolved. The group is battered now, but others will replace it if the wrongs persist.
It is high time that the West takes responsibility for its role in the carnage that its own citizens inflicted on the long-suffering populations of Syria and Iraq, by taking back and putting on trial every last foreign fighter who is alive – if not out of moral rectitude then to avoid them becoming foot soldiers of the next caliphate. It is the least they can do.
Kareem Shaheen is a veteran Middle East correspondent in Canada and columnist for The National
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
More on Quran memorisation:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
Winner Bella Fever, Dane O’Neill (jockey), Mike de Kock (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Woven, Harry Bentley, David Simcock.
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner Fore Left, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.
8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Rusumaat, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Art Du Val, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Beyond Reason, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Henderson, Johnstone, Pickford, Ramsdale
Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Godfrey, James, Maguire, Mings, Shaw, Stones, Trippier, Walker, White
Midfielders Bellingham, Henderson, Lingard, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse
Forwards Calvert-Lewin, Foden, Grealish, Greenwood, Kane, Rashford, Saka, Sancho, Sterling, Watkins
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The biog
Name: James Mullan
Nationality: Irish
Family: Wife, Pom; and daughters Kate, 18, and Ciara, 13, who attend Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS)
Favourite book or author: “That’s a really difficult question. I’m a big fan of Donna Tartt, The Secret History. I’d recommend that, go and have a read of that.”
Dream: “It would be to continue to have fun and to work with really interesting people, which I have been very fortunate to do for a lot of my life. I just enjoy working with very smart, fun people.”
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
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Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
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Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
