Iraq to deport suspected French jihadist who served sentence

An Iraqi court ordered the release and deportation of a suspected French jihadist sentenced yesterday to seven months in prison for entering the country illegally, saying she had already served her time.

Melina Bougedir, 27, was arrested last summer in former Islamic State group stronghold Mosul with her four children, three of whom have been repatriated to France.

Wearing a black dress and purple headscarf, she entered the courtroom holding her other child, a boy with blond hair.

Speaking in Arabic, she said that she had been a housewife in Mosul.