Preventing her from seeing her mother ... The trial of an Iraqi who kidnapped his daughter from Canada to Iraq

In Canada, the trial of an Iraqi man who kidnapped his daughter from Canada to Iraq, and kept her there with relatives for more than two years, began in a case followed by the Canadian media.

The trial of the Iraqi Ali Al-Azzawi began in the Canadian city of Calgary, due to his kidnapping of his daughter during a tourist trip in Egypt, and then transferred to Iraq, where he prevented her from seeing her mother or returning to Canada again, according to "Sky News".

All diplomatic efforts to return Zahra Al-Azzawi, now 13, to Canada have fallen short, despite her mother's repeated demands.

The girl's father had divorced her mother in 2017, before he decided in 2018 to take the girl on a summer tourist trip to Egypt, where he kidnapped her there to Iraq, and since that day she has not returned to her mother in Canada.

Al-Azzawi was arrested, upon his return alone to Canada, last year, before he was released on bail, before the awaited trial began days earlier.

It is noteworthy that the girl’s mother had submitted a request for protection 8 years ago from the Canadian authorities, due to “repeated attacks and violence from her husband,” as he described it.

It is reported that the girl’s father claims that his daughter does not want to leave Iraq, and that she wants to stay there, which will be determined by the court later.