Iraqi court opens trial of six French Islamic State suspects

BAGHDAD, Sept 20 — An Iraqi court on Sunday opened the trial of six French nationals accused of belonging to Islamic State, with a member of the Supreme Judicial Council telling the court that the suspects could face the death penalty if convicted of crimes committed against Iraq and the Iraqi people. Two court legal sources said the defendants were among 47 French Islamic State detainees transferred from prisons in northeast Syria last year as part of a broader relocation process overseen by US forces and Iraqi authorities. The French embassy in Baghdad did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Officials from the embassy were present at the Baghdad criminal court, according to a Reuters witness inside the court. The six men, who are being tried under Iraq's counter-terrorism law, arrived at the court in a prison van escorted by a convoy of Humvees carrying Iraqi special forces personnel. The men were dressed in yellow prison jumpsuits. The presiding judge adjourned the hearing until October 5 to allow defence lawyers time to review the case file. Abbas al-Maliki, a court-appointed lawyer representing one of the defendants, told Reuters his client was being tried on char