Iraq won't hand over convicted foreign IS fighters until sentences served

Baghdad: The Iraqi Ministry of Justice said that foreign Islamic State (IS) terrorits who were convicted in the country will not be extradited until they serve their sentences in Iraqi prisons.

Ahmed Luaibi, spokesman of the Ministry, told the official Iraqi News Agency on Saturday that the militants arrested in accordance with the country's anti-terrorism law will not be extradited.

He said that Ambassadors of their countries will be allowed to visit them in respect of human rights principles, reports Xinhua news agency.

Luaibi said that there were no accurate statistics on IS foreign prisoners, stressing that there were a large number of them in prisons of the Iraqi federal government and jails located in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan.

Thousands of foreign fighters joined the IS which established a self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

However, after the defeat of the IS in both countries, hundreds of the group's members and supporters were either killed or captured.

The Iraqi judiciary has conducted trials for thousands of suspected IS militants including hundreds of foreigners.