Widow of ISIS leader sentenced to death by Baghdad court

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.

Read more: The National (UAE)