’Naive to the point of dangerous’: Boris Johnson slams Jeremy Corbyn over comments on al-Baghdadi raid
Just hours after he was accused of being a “terrorist sympathiser”, UK Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has been slammed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson after criticising the raid that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has been labelled “naive to the point of dangerous” for saying the murderous Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi should have been arrested rather than killed by US forces.
Mr Corbyn - leader of the British Labour Party - said in Glasgow if the West wanted to live in a world of “peace and justice,” it should have arrested the IS chief, despite the fact he blew himself and two children up with a suicide vest.
The Labour leader’s shocking comments came hours after he was accused of being a “terrorist sympathiser” by a heckler as he campaigned for votes in Scotland’s biggest city.
“If it would have been possible to arrest him, I don’t know the details of the circumstances at the time,” Mr Corbyn told LBC radio on Wednesday.
“I have only seen various statements put out by the US about it, surely that would have been the right thing to do.
“If we want to live in a world of peace and justice we should practice it as well.”
It is not the first time Mr Corbyn has appeared overly sympathetic towards terrorists. In 2015, he told Iranian television that it was a “shame” that Osama bin Laden had been killed rather than arrested.
He has also called Islamist terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah his “friends” and spent years campaigning for the release of members of the Irish Republican Army.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Mr Corbyn’s comments on Al-Baghdadi were dangerous.
“’I think it is very important when you look at the threats this country faces that we are realistic and be strong against those threats. Corbyn’s approach is naive to the point of being dangerous,’’ he said.
The comments come during the UK General Election campaign with Britons set to head to the polls on December 12.
Mr Johnson hopes he can boost his majority in parliament to take the UK out of the European Union by the end of January next year.
MORE NEWS:
Bombshell claim at Trump impeachment inquiry
Teachers to be trained to handle sexting epidemic
New twist in Fifita Bali cash claims
U2’s tribute to great Australian women
Al-Baghdadi was killed by US special forces in Syria last month after a reign of terror both there and in Iraq.
IS has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds both in the Middle East, the trafficking of women as sex slaves, and the sadistic filming of executions of British prisoners.
He had also inspired terrorist attacks in Australia including the 2014 Sydney siege where two Australians - Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson - were killed and last year’s attack on Melbourne’s Bourke St which killed Melbourne food icon Sisto Malaspina.
The ISIS chief was directly linked to the rape of US female prisoners and murders himself.
US president Donald Trump told his country last month that the terrorist chief was found “whimpering and crying and screaming” in his compound before he blew himself up.
WIFE OF SLAIN IS LEADER CAPTURED
Last week, Turkey captured one of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s wives more than a week after the former Islamic State leader killed himself during a raid by US special forces.
He provided no further details as he addressed theology students in a speech at Ankara University.
“The United States said Baghdadi killed himself in a tunnel. They started a communication campaign about this,” Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said.
“But, I am announcing it here for the first time: We captured his wife and didn’t make a fuss like them. Similarly, we also captured his sister and brother-in-law in Syria.”
Mr Erdogan did not confirm how the wife – one of four wives of the slain terrorist – was captured nor did he identify her.
Turkey said it had captured al-Baghdadi’s elder sister Rasmiya Awad during a raid in the Syrian town of Azaz, as well her husband, daughter-in-law and five children.
Mr Erdogan confirmed that the pair were taken into custody “on the Syrian side.”
The area she was reportedly found is part of Syria that Turkish forces invaded last month following the withdrawal of US troops from the region.
A senior Turkish official called the arrest an intelligence “gold mine.”
Little is known about al-Baghdadi’s sister.
The Turkish official said the 65-year-old Awad is suspected of being affiliated with the extremist group. He did not elaborate.
Awad was captured in a raid in a trailer container she was living in with her family near the town of Azazin Aleppo province.
The area is part of the region administered by Turkey after it carried out a military incursion to chase away IS militants and Kurdish fighters starting 2016.
Allied Syrian groups manage the area known as the Euphrates Shield zone.
The official said the sister was with her husband, daughter-in-law and five children.
The adults are being interrogated, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.
“This kind of thing is an intelligence gold mine. What she knows about (IS) can significantly expand our understanding of the group and help us catch more bad guys,” the official said.
Last August a different sister, whose identity was not released by authorities, was sentenced to death in Iraq.
She was found guilty of “offering logistic support and help to [ISIS fighters] in carrying out criminal acts”, according to reports at the time.
Al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi from Samarra, was killed in a US raid in the nearby province of Idlib last month.
The raid was a major blow to the group, which has lost territories it held in Syria and Iraq in a series of military defeats by the US-led coalition and Syrian and Iraqi allies.
Many IS members have escaped through smuggling routes to northwestern Syria in the final days of battle ahead of the group’s territorial defeat earlier this year, while others have melted into the desert in Syria or Iraq.
The reclusive leader al-Baghdadi was known to be close to one of his brothers, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hamza.
Al-Baghdadi’s aide, a Saudi, was killed hours after the raid, also in northwestern Syria, in a US strike.
The group named a successor to al-Baghdadi days later, but little is known about him or how the group’s structure has been affected by the successive blows.
PENTAGON RELEASES FOOTAGE OF RAID
Earlier, a grainy series of videos showing al-Baghdadi’s last moments was released by the Pentagon.
United States Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie Jr explained in an extensive briefing how US forces approached a compound in Idlib province, Syria, last Saturday night after pinpointing the location of the world’s most wanted man.
The aerial videos begin from a distance before panning closer, with about 10 dark figures clearly visible close to a building.
Meanwhile, the terror group announced its new leader and warned US President Donald Trump it would seek revenge.
“These fighters opened fire on our aircraft and what you see on the video is the actual response,” General Kenneth McKenzie said of footage showing bombs landing in the area before ground troops approached after being dropped by army helicopters.
The operation was approved about 9am on October 26, Washington time, said Gen. McKenzie, adding that the assault force included drones, jets and helicopters carrying commandos, who engaged with the occupants of the buildings.
“With the assault force surrounding the compound we repeatedly urged those inside to come out peacefully,” he said.
The video then showed the Delta Commando “assault force actually closing up to the compound” and securing the release of “non-combatants” including 11 children.
“Those who came out of the building were checked for weapons and explosives and moved out of the immediate area,” he said.
Gen. McKenzie said the unarmed occupants were “treated humanely at all times”.
“I want to make it clear that despite the violent nature of the raid and the high profile nature of this assault every effort was made to avoid civilian casualties and to protect the children that we suspected would be at the compound,” he said.
Five IS members — four women and a man — continued to hold out inside the building.
“They did not respond to commands in Arabic to surrender and they continued to threaten the force,” Gen. McKenzie said.
“They were then engaged by the raid force and killed.”
Shortly afterwards, US forces located al-Baghdadi, 48, and two children inside an underground tunnel.
“When capture at the hands of US forces was imminent Baghdadi detonated a bomb he wore, killing himself and two young children who were with him,” Gen. McKenzie said, explaining that US forces initially reported there were three children, but had revised this number to two.
Originally published as ’Naive to the point of dangerous’: Boris Johnson slams Jeremy Corbyn over comments on al-Baghdadi raid
UK rapper touring Aus charged with rape
A UK rapper and YouTuber, known as Yung Filly, was arrested on Tuesday with police alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in his Perth hotel room.
UK rapper touring Aus charged with rape
A UK rapper and YouTuber, known as Yung Filly, was arrested on Tuesday with police alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in his Perth hotel room.