The Defense Department says the wife of a senior leader of the self-proclaimed Islamic State was released into the custody of the Iraqi government today. Since her capture, Umm Sayyaf had been described as cooperative with U.S. forces.
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U.S. forces captured Umm Sayyaf and took her back to Iraq, where she was held near the northern city of Irbil and underwent weeks of questioning by a team of U.S. officials.
She is now being held by the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Interior.
Abu Sayyaf was killed during a U.S. Army Delta Force raid on a compound in Syria. Islamic State militants have claimed she died in a Jordanian airstrike, but U.S. and other officials have cast doubt on that assertion.
“Administration officials said they were in contact with Ms. Mueller’s family prior to releasing Umm Sayyaf”. Mueller was killed while being held prisoner. It’s unclear whether charges have been filed against Umm Sayyaf. She was transferred to the custody of Kurdish officials in Iraq.
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“The decision to transfer Umm Sayyaf to the Iraqi government was based on the U.S. government determination that the detainee’s transfer would be appropriate with respect to legal, diplomatic, intelligence, security and law enforcement consideration”, the Pentagon said in a statement late Thursday announcing the transfer.
