(AFP) France on Tuesday opened the door to repatriating more than a hundred jihadists being held in Syria, in a marked change in stance brought about by the planned withdrawal of US troops from the country.
Paris is worried that French prisoners held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) could be released or escape after US President Donald Trump announced plans last month to pull American forces out of Syria.
Until now, French officials had insisted the fighters and their wives must be prosecuted and jailed locally, while offering to take back the children of jihadists and place them with relatives in France.
“Given the development of the military situation in northeast Syria, the American decisions, and to ensure the security of the French people, we are examining all options to avoid the escape and scattering of these potentially dangerous individuals,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
