LOC20:49
17:49 GMT
WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump threatened Friday that he would release prisoners belonging to the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) if the countries they came from refused to take them in.
"We have thousands of prisoners of war, ISIS fighters. We're asking the countries from which they came, from Europe, we're asking them to take back these prisoners of war," he told reporters.
Trump made the remarks while receiving Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the White House.
He suggested that these country "can try them, do what they want," noting, "So far, they've refused."
"And at some point, I'm going to have to say, 'I'm sorry, but you either take them back or we're going to let them go at your border,'" Trump cautioned.
"Because the United States is not going to have thousands and thousands of people that we've captured stationed at Guantanamo Bay, held captive at Guantanamo Bay, for the next 50 years and us spending billions and billions of dollars.
"We've done Europe a tremendous favor -- If they don't take them back, we're going to probably put them at the border and then they'll have to capture them again," he added. (end)
asj.gb