The American aid worker was taken in northern Syria in August 2013 and incarcerated at Sayyaf’s home.
The wife of a dead ISIS leader was formally charged the Kayla Mueller death case. The federal court in Virginia charged the woman with conspiracy in the death of the American aid worker. The US department of Justice said that Kayla Mueller died in the captivity of the extremist group a year ago.
The woman, Nisreen Assad Ibrahim, also known as Umm Sayyaf told the federal agents last year that the head of the terrorist group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was the “owner” of Kayla Mueller while she was a captive at Sayyaf’s house. She also told the agents that owning means enslaving a person.
Last August, US officials and the spokesman for the Mueller family stated that Kayla Mueller’s death was the result of repeated rapes by IS leader during her captivity in Syria.
Umm Sayyaf is an Iraqi citizen. She was the wife of a senior IS figure, Abu Sayyaf until he dies in May last year. Umm Sayyaf is currently in Iraqi custody.
Justice Department’s chief of national security, John Carlin released a statement in which he said that Monday’s charges have made it clear that the US justice system is a powerful tool against anyone who harms Americans abroad.
Carlin’s spokesman also told a news agency that the American government was cooperating with the Iraqi authorities in the prosecution so that justice may be served.
The Justice department believes that Umm Sayyaf will be held to account for all the crimes that she has committed. However, the department did not specify a specific result of the prosecution.
Kayla Mueller had gone to Turkey in December 2012 in order to work with an organization that was providing aid to Syrian refugees along the border. She was taken captive in August 2013 when she was leaving a hospital in Northern Syria.
US officials confirmed that al-Baghdadi imprisoned Mueller in Umm Sayyaf’s home in Syria.
