Iraq and Lebanon move to activate prisoner transfer agreement

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Justice Minister Khalid Shwani met Lebanon’s ambassador to Iraq, Khalil Abdallah, on Saturday to discuss activating a prisoner transfer agreement between Baghdad and Beirut after Iraq’s parliament ratified it.

The Justice Ministry said the meeting at its headquarters focused on strengthening cooperation between the two countries and reviewing ways to implement the agreement.

According to the ministry, the two sides discussed procedures for transferring convicted prisoners between Baghdad and Beirut, a step it said would support bilateral cooperation and the agreement’s humanitarian aims.

Iraq already has a prisoner exchange agreement with Iran, signed in 2015, covering people convicted in civil cases but excluding those convicted of terrorism. The two countries have periodically carried out transfers under the agreement, including the return of 14 Iranian prisoners in November 2023.

Iraq and Iran also maintain a separate extradition agreement, signed in 2011 and enacted under Iraqi law in 2012, that governs the transfer of fugitives and criminal suspects between them.

The ministry said Shwani and Abdallah also stressed the importance of developing bilateral relations and expanding cooperation to serve both countries’ shared interests.