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Fears of Clashes Resuming Between Militias in Tripoli

Members of the armed militias in the city of Sirte (AP)
Members of the armed militias in the city of Sirte (AP)
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Fears of Clashes Resuming Between Militias in Tripoli

Members of the armed militias in the city of Sirte (AP)
Members of the armed militias in the city of Sirte (AP)

Controversial movements of some armed militias affiliated with Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital, Tripoli, have raised fears of a new wave of clashes.

Head of the so-called Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade (TRB) Haithem Tajouri has recently launched a verbal attack on the GNA and its loyal forces describing it as a weak government.

His comments seemed to be in response to GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha’s earlier attempts to control the entrances and exits of the capital.

Tajouri demanded that he be informed of whoever wants to enter Tripoli, whether patrols or any deployed force in the city.

Meanwhile, military commanders from the GNA-affiliated “Volcano of Rage” operation said TRB was on a state of alert.

Local residents have also noticed the sudden and unexplained repositioning of some militias in Tripoli during the past two days.

Local media have reported the appearance of the smuggler who has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council and is wanted by the Attorney General, Mohammed Kachlaf, beside GNA Defense Minister Salah el-Din Al-Namroush during his recent visit to the headquarters of the Petroleum Facilities Guard.

Kachlaf’s appearance after the arrest of his partner, Abd al-Rahman al-Milad in Tripoli in mid-October, raises questions on the engagement of the GNA Ministry of Interior in battles against militias.

Kachlaf has been controlling the Zawiya refinery for years. He is described as one of the rich and masters of smuggling in the western coastal regions, knowing that he commands militias affiliated with the Petroleum Facilities Guard. He is enlisted on the UN Security Council sanctions list, which includes travel bans and freezing of funds.

Namroush also employed an ISIS member after the Ministry of Defense assigned Mohammed Balaam to manage and follow up the exchange of detainees and corpses, in cooperation with the ministry’s permanent committee for humanitarian affairs, knowing that he had previously participated in the battles waged by extremists against the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces in Benghazi before his escape to Tripoli.

Spokesperson for the GNA Sirte and al-Jufrah operations room Brigadier General Abdul Hadi Dara has claimed that a member of the Sudanese “Janjaweed” militia was shot dead by the townspeople on Abu Hadi Island after attempting to rob a house.

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Report: France Issues New Arrest Warrant for Syria's Assad

A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the city of Qamishli, as Syrian Kurds celebrate the fall of capital Damascus to anti-government fighters on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the city of Qamishli, as Syrian Kurds celebrate the fall of capital Damascus to anti-government fighters on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Report: France Issues New Arrest Warrant for Syria's Assad

A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the city of Qamishli, as Syrian Kurds celebrate the fall of capital Damascus to anti-government fighters on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
A damaged portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in the city of Qamishli, as Syrian Kurds celebrate the fall of capital Damascus to anti-government fighters on December 8, 2024. (AFP)

Two French investigating magistrates have issued an arrest warrant against ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, the second such move by France's judicial authorities, a source said on Tuesday.

Assad, who was ousted late last year in a lightning offensive by opposition forces, is held responsible in the warrant issued on Monday as "commander-in-chief of the armed forces" for a bombing in the Syrian city of Daraa in 2017 that killed a civilian, a source close to the case, asking not to be named, told AFP.

This mandate was issued as part of an investigation into the case of Salah Abou Nabout, a 59-year-old Franco-Syrian national and former French teacher, who was killed on June 7, 2017 following the bombing of his home by Syrian army helicopters.

The French judiciary considers that Assad ordered and provided the means for this attack, according to the source.

Six senior Syrian army officials are already the target of French arrest warrants over the case in an investigation that began in 2018.

"This case represents the culmination of a long fight for justice, in which I and my family believed from the start," said Omar Abou Nabout, the victim's son, in a statement.

He expressed hope that "a trial will take place and that the perpetrators will be arrested and judged, wherever they are".

French authorities in November 2023 issued a first arrest warrant against Assad over chemical attacks in 2013 where more than a thousand people, according to American intelligence, were killed by sarin gas.

While considering Assad's participation in these attacks "likely", public prosecutors last year issued an appeal against the warrant on the grounds that Assad should have immunity as a head of state.

However, his ouster has now changed his status and potential immunity. Assad and his family fled to Russia after his fall, according to Russian authorities.