BAGHDAD: A British citizen was sentenced by an Iraqi court to 15 years in prison on charges of smuggling artifacts out of the country, in a case that has attracted international attention.
The verdict handed down to retired geologist Jim Fitton shocked the court in Baghdad, including his defense attorney.
A German national tried with Fitton was found not to have criminal intent in the case and will be released.
“I thought the worst case scenario would be one year, with suspension,” Fitton’s lawyer Thair Soud, visibly shocked, told The Associated Press.
Judge Jabir Abd Jabir found that by picking up the items, found to be artefacts dating older than 200 years according to a technical government investigation, and intending to transport them out of the country, Fitton had criminal intent to smuggle them.
The judge did not consider Soud’s arguments that laid out Fitton’s ignorance of Iraqi laws and the value of the items he pitched up. Fitton and the German national, Volker Waldman, were arrested in Baghdad airport on March 20 after airport security discovered the items in their luggage. They had been part of a tourism expedition across the country’s ancient sites. Their case has received international attention at a time when Iraq hopes to boost its nascent tourism sector.
Waldman’s defense team has said the German tourist had been carrying the pieces for Fitton but that he did not pick them up from the site. Both men are charged with smuggling based on the country’s antiquities laws, and could potentially face the death penalty. However, officials have said that was only a remote possibility.
Soud said he intents to appeal the sentence immediately. It is not clear if Fitton can serve out his sentence in his home country, this would require a bilateral agreement between Iraq and the UK.
British man gets 15 years in Iraq over smuggling artifacts
https://arab.news/4d27f
British man gets 15 years in Iraq over smuggling artifacts
- Jim Fitton and the German national, Volker Waldman, were arrested in Baghdad airport on March 20 after airport security discovered the items in their luggage
Sisi meets Burhan in Cairo to discuss restoring stability in Sudan
- 2 leaders also planned to consult on strengthening bilateral ties
DUBAI: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council President Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan met in Cairo on Monday to discuss ways to restore stability and promote development in Sudan.
The two leaders also planned to consult on strengthening bilateral ties and addressing various regional issues, Ahram Online reported.
Al-Burhan’s visit comes amid ongoing conflict in Sudan, where fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has devastated the country.
Al-Burhan declared Khartoum “free” of RSF control in March after a major military push.
The war, which erupted in April 2023 over disputes regarding the RSF’s integration into the military, has left tens of thousands dead, with both sides accused of committing atrocities.
Sudan remains deeply divided, with the army controlling the north and east, while the RSF holds much of Darfur and parts of the south.
Iraq’s counter-terrorism chief discusses security with Egyptian, Jordanian envoys
- The meetings focused on strengthening cooperation, exchanging expertise and sharing perspectives on security issues
DUBAI: The head of Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service, Lt. Gen. Karim Al-Tamimi, held separate meetings on Monday with the Egyptian and Jordanian military envoys to discuss ways to boost security cooperation.
Al-Tamimi met with Egyptian military attache Col. Akram Sharif and Jordanian military attache Brig. Gen. Anwar Al-Bashbasha, according to a statement from the Counter-Terrorism Service.
The meetings focused on strengthening cooperation, exchanging expertise and sharing perspectives on security issues between the three countries.
Jordanian armed forces foil two major narcotics smuggling attempts
- Border Guard Forces, in coordination with military security and the Anti-Narcotics Department, monitored a group of smugglers trying to illegally cross into Jordan
DUBAI: Jordan’s Eastern and Southern Military Zones thwarted separate drug smuggling attempts over the past two days, as the Jordanian Armed Forces-Arab Army intensified efforts to protect national security.
On Monday, the Eastern Military Zone carried out a special operation, stopping an infiltration attempt from Syrian territory.
An official military source said Border Guard Forces, in coordination with military security and the Anti-Narcotics Department, monitored a group of smugglers trying to illegally cross into Jordan.
Rapid reaction patrols were sent out, applying the rules of engagement, which resulted in injuries among the smugglers and the retreat of others back into Syria.
A subsequent search uncovered large quantities of narcotics, which were transferred to the relevant authorities.
On Sunday evening, meanwhile, the Southern Military Zone foiled an attempt to smuggle narcotics using a drone along its western front.
The drone was tracked, intercepted and brought down inside Jordanian territory, with the seized drugs handed over to the relevant agencies.
‘New inferno was unleashed’ with restart of Gaza war, says ICRC director
- Gaza is experiencing and enduring death, injury, and multiple displacements, the ICRC says
DOHA: A “new inferno” has been unleashed on Gaza following the restart of war in the Palestinian territory, the director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Monday.
“Gaza is experiencing and enduring... death, injury, multiple displacements, amputations, separation, disappearance, starvation and denial of aid and dignity on a massive scale, and just when the all important ceasefire led people to believe they had survived the worst, a new inferno was unleashed,” Pierre Krahenbuhl told a Doha conference on security.
Iran repelled large cyberattack on Sunday
- Iran has in the past accused its arch-foe Israel of being behind cyberattacks
- In 2021, a large cyberattack on Iranian petrol stations was said by Tehran to likely be caused by Israel
DUBAI: Iran repelled a large cyberattack on its infrastructure on Sunday, said the head of its Infrastructure Communications Company, a day after a powerful explosion damaged its most important container port and another round of talks with the US over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
“One of the most widespread and complex cyberattacks against the country’s infrastructure was identified and preventive measures were taken,” Behzad Akbari said on Monday, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency, without giving more detail.
Tehran and Washington concluded a third round of nuclear talks on Saturday in Oman, on the same day Iran’s biggest port of Bandar Abbas was rocked by a large explosion whose cause remains unknown.
Chemicals at the port were suspected to have fueled the explosion, but the exact cause was not clear and Iran’s Defense Ministry denied international media reports that the blast may be linked to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.
Iran has in the past accused its arch-foe Israel of being behind cyberattacks. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Iran’s nuclear infrastructure should be entirely dismantled — not just limited to prevent the development of nuclear weapons.
In 2021, a large cyberattack on Iranian petrol stations was said by Tehran to likely be caused by Israel. In 2023, a similar but larger cyberattack disrupted about 70 percent of petrol stations, with a group called “Predatory Sparrow” claiming the attack as retaliation to “the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region.”
