Two Former Syrian Intelligence Officials Face US War Crimes Charges

FILE PHOTO: The seal of the US Justice Department is seen on the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The seal of the US Justice Department is seen on the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
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Two Former Syrian Intelligence Officials Face US War Crimes Charges

FILE PHOTO: The seal of the US Justice Department is seen on the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The seal of the US Justice Department is seen on the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

A US indictment unsealed on Monday charged two former high-ranking Syrian officials under ousted President Bashar al-Assad with war crimes, the US Justice Department said in a statement.

The indictment, which was unsealed in the Northern District of Illinois, charged the former Syrian intelligence officials with engaging in a conspiracy to commit cruel and inhuman treatment of civilian detainees, including US citizens, during the course of the Syrian civil war, Reuters reported.

Prosecutors identified the defendants as former Syrian Air Force intelligence officers Jamil Hassan, 72, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, 65.
Warrants for the defendants' arrest have been issued, and they remain at large, the Justice Department added. The defendants could not immediately be reached.
They engaged "in a conspiracy to commit war crimes through the infliction of cruel and inhuman treatment on detainees under their control, including US citizens, in detention facilities at the Mezzeh Military Airport (Mezzeh Prison), near Damascus," the Justice Department added.

From 2012 to 2019, the officials were alleged to have "whipped, kicked, electrocuted and burned their victims; hung them by their wrists for prolonged periods of time; threatened them with rape and death; and falsely told them that their family members had been killed," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

After a lightning advance, Syrian opposition forces brought an end to more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family over the weekend.

A 13-year-old civil war killed hundreds of thousands, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble, countryside depopulated and the Syrian economy hollowed out by global sanctions.



Gazans Must Return Home, EU Plans to Tell Israel 

A Palestinian man and two girls stand a mid of the rubble of homes, destroyed by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive against Hamas in in Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
A Palestinian man and two girls stand a mid of the rubble of homes, destroyed by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive against Hamas in in Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
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Gazans Must Return Home, EU Plans to Tell Israel 

A Palestinian man and two girls stand a mid of the rubble of homes, destroyed by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive against Hamas in in Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)
A Palestinian man and two girls stand a mid of the rubble of homes, destroyed by the Israeli army's air and ground offensive against Hamas in in Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP)

The EU plans to tell Israel next week that Palestinians uprooted from their Gaza homes should be ensured a dignified return and that Europe will contribute to rebuilding the shattered territory, according to a document seen by Reuters.

That echoes Arab positions but conflicts with President Donald Trump's stated aim for the US to take over the shattered coastal strip and rebuild it into a "Riviera of the Middle East" while Gazans emigrate to other nations.

The EU, which has been a major aid provider to Palestinians, is to outline its position to Israeli officials in talks in Brussels on February 24 as part of the EU-Israel Association Council, the first such session since 2022.

A document outlining the draft EU position emphasizes both Europe's commitment to Israel's security and its view that "displaced Gazans should be ensured a safe and dignified return to their homes in Gaza".

"The EU will actively contribute to a coordinated international effort to early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza," it said, also calling for full humanitarian access.

"The EU deeply deplores the unacceptable number of civilians, especially women and children, who have lost their lives, and the catastrophic humanitarian situation notably caused by the insufficient entry of aid into Gaza, in particular in the North."

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after fighters from the Palestinian group Hamas stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 48,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste with most of its 2.3 million pre-war population displaced multiple times, humanitarian agencies say.

"The EU strongly opposes all actions that undermine the viability of the two-state solution," the document added, referring to its position that Palestinians should have an independent homeland alongside Israel.