Orphan of Islamic State parents is home after year in limbo
TUNIS, Tunisia — A 3-year-old Tunisian orphan whose parents left home to join the Islamic State group has returned to his grandfather’s custody after over a year in a Libyan prison.
Trilling joyfully, a small crowd gathered at the airport late Wednesday in Tunis as Tamim Jandoubi and his grandfather walked through the terminal building. The child was taken away by ambulance and was under observation Thursday in a hospital.
Tamim’s grandfather, Faouzi Trabelsi, has fought to recover the child since learning last fall that his mother and father had died in an airstrike on a Libyan Islamic State camp in February 2016. Tamim was taken to a prison in Tripoli, along with other widows and orphans of foreign fighters. They are caught in limbo after the militant group’s retreat, with their home countries hesitating to take them back.
“We were in Tripoli 11 days and we finally succeeded in getting him back after a huge effort,” Trabelsi said.