Germany arrests woman accused of joining Daesh in Syria

Both are dual citizens of Germany and Lebanon, and they were arrested in Essen and Hildesheim respectively. (File/AFP)

• Fadia S. is accused of offenses including membership in Daesh and gross violation of her parental duties
• Prosecutors said Fadia S. traveled to Syria in 2015 to join her husband, who had previously left Germany to join Daesh

BERLIN: German authorities on Tuesday arrested a woman accused of traveling to Syria with her four young children to join the Daesh group, as well as her brother-in-law, who is accused of helping her.
The federal prosecutor’s office identified the pair only as Fadia S. and Rabih O., in line with German privacy rules. It said both are dual citizens of Germany and Lebanon, and they were arrested in Essen and Hildesheim respectively.
Fadia S. is accused of offenses including membership in Daesh and gross violation of her parental duties. Rabih O. is accused of supporting Daesh and violating German export laws.
Prosecutors said Fadia S. traveled to Syria in 2015 to join her husband, who had previously left Germany to join Daesh. She took her children, then aged 3 to 8, and the family allegedly lived in accommodation in the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa that the group had commandeered.
As the territory held by Daesh shrank, Fadia S. and her by-then five children fled to Turkey in early 2018 and returned to Germany, prosecutors said.
Rabih O. is accused of giving his brother a variety of financial and logistical support and of helping Fadia S. travel to Syria to join him.