US presses European countries to take Islamic State fighters

European and other members of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group must take back and prosecute their nationals detained in Iraq and Syria to help keep IS from regaining territory, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said.

Pompeo told foreign ministers and senior officials from some 30 coalition members that it's imperative that they hold thousands of detained foreign fighters accountable for atrocities committed while IS held swaths of territory in the two countries.

Many of the detained foreign fighters are from Europe, but countries have been reluctant to take them back and officials acknowledged there are still differences of opinion among coalition partners about how best to deal with them.

The meeting came amid concerns about the US commitment to the fight against IS remnants. Those concerns have increased as President Donald Trump has pressed to withdraw American troops from Syria.

It was also the first meeting at such a senior level since IS was driven from the last of its major strongholds in March and the first since the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, killed himself during a US raid last month.

Pompeo said bringing the foreign fighters to justice in their home countries is critical to preventing IS from resurrecting its caliphate and exporting its ideology.

"That work begins with carrying out justice against those who deserve it," he said. "Coalition members must take back the thousands of foreign terrorist fighters in custody and impose accountability for the atrocities they have perpetrated."
"Each country has a responsibility to handle this situation on their own," he said. "Our view is that it's not a viable option to ask other countries in the region to import another country's foreign fighter and pursue prosecution and incarceration there."
As the effort in Iraq and Syria goes on, Pompeo said it will also be critical to keep IS from expanding its reach to other areas, notably the Sahel region in west Africa where he said the group "is outpacing the ability of regional governments and international partners to address the threat."