Baghdad and Damascus advance judicial, legal cooperation

Shafaq News- Damascus

Syrian transitional President Ahmad Al-Sharaa on Thursday discussed judicial and legal cooperation with Iraq’s Supreme

Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan in Damascus, as Baghdad and Damascus work through the cases of thousands of ISIS detainees transferred from Syria to Iraqi custody.

An informed source told Shafaq News ahead of the visit that the ISIS detainee file, transitional justice, transparency, anti-corruption efforts, and other shared judicial matters would be on the table.

Zidan also discussed with Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar Al-Wais a proposed agreement governing the transfer and prosecution of Syrian detainees held in Iraq. The judge’s visit is the first of its kind to Syria under Al-Sharaa, having arrived in Damascus earlier today at the head of a judicial delegation.

Read more: From Syrian prisons to Iraqi provinces

Iraq has taken custody of 5,704 ISIS suspects transferred from Syria, representing 61 nationalities, according to the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation. Syrians make up the largest group at 3,543, alongside 467 Iraqis and 983 non-Arab foreign nationals.

CENTCOM claimed that the transfer operation was intended to reduce risks linked to instability around detention facilities in northeastern Syria.