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Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
ICRC gains access to Syria's Sweida, calls for sustained humanitarian response
The ICRC says it gained access to Syria's Sweida and has called for a sustained humanitarian response. Developing...


Asharq Al-Awsat
7 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
French Prosecutors Seek New Arrest Warrant against Bashar Assad
French prosecutors said Monday they have requested a new arrest warrant against Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad over a deadly 2013 chemical attacks after a previous one was cancelled, AFP reported. It is now up to investigating magistrates to decide whether to issue the new warrant. French investigators have since 2021 been looking into a suspected Syrian government sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4 and 5, 2013, in the areas of Adra and Douma outside Damascus. The Court of Cassation, France's highest court, on Friday ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, annulling a French warrant against Assad issued in 2023 when he was still leader. It however added that, as Assad, who was toppled in December, was no longer president, new warrants could be issued and the French investigation could continue. In November 2023, the French judiciary issued an arrest warrant against Assad on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes, in connection with the chemical attacks attributed to the Syrian government under his rule. The French judiciary tackled the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, whereby a court may prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed in other countries. An investigation – based on testimonies of survivors and military defectors, as well as photos and video footage – led to warrants for the arrest of Assad, his brother Maher – then head of the Syrian army's fourth division – and two generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan. Public prosecutors approved three of the warrants, but issued an appeal against the one targeting Assad, arguing he should have immunity as a head of state. The Paris Court of Appeal in June last year however upheld it, and prosecutors again appealed. Assad and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after opposition fighters seized power on December 8. Another French warrant is already out for Assad's arrest, issued in January for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Daraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian.

Al Arabiya
19 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
US urges UN Security Council to ease Syria sanctions to aid fight against terrorism
The United States urged the United Nations Security Council on Monday to adjust its sanctions on Syria to help the country's government prevail in what the acting US ambassador described as 'the fight against terrorism.' After 13 years of civil war, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December in a lightning offensive by opposition forces led by the 'Hayat Tahrir al-Sham' (HTS) group. Formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, HTS was al-Qaeda's official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Since May 2014, the group has been on the United Nations Security Council's al-Qaeda and ISIS sanctions list and subjected to a global asset freeze and arms embargo. A number of HTS members are also under UN sanctions – a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo – including its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is now Syria's president. The United States is working with Security Council members to review Syria-related sanctions, acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea said on Monday. 'The Syrian government has made a clear commitment to combat al-Qaeda and (ISIS), and both groups are equally clear that they oppose the new government and are threatening to destroy it. Council members should not take those threats lightly,' she told a Security Council meeting on Syria. 'The Council can – and must – adjust its sanctions so the Syrian government can prevail in the fight against terrorism, while keeping the most dangerous and unrepentant actors designated,' she said. US President Donald Trump announced a major US policy shift in May when he said he would lift US sanctions on Syria. United Nations sanctions monitors have seen no 'active ties' this year between al-Qaeda and Syria's new government, according to an unpublished UN report, a finding that could strengthen the US push to ease some UN sanctions on Syria.