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France Orders Syrian Officials to Stand Trial for Crimes Against Humanity

Ali Mamlouk. (AFP)
Ali Mamlouk. (AFP)
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France Orders Syrian Officials to Stand Trial for Crimes Against Humanity

Ali Mamlouk. (AFP)
Ali Mamlouk. (AFP)

French judges have ordered on Tuesday senior officials of the Syrian regime to stand trial for collusion in crimes against humanity, a first in France, according to court documents seen by AFP.

The order, signed last Wednesday, says the three officials are charged with complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.

They are Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud.

French prosecutors believe the trio, who are not expected to show up for the trial or have lawyers represent them, are responsible for the deaths of two French-Syrian nationals, Mazen Dabbagh and his son Patrick, who were arrested in 2013.

The International Human Rights Federation (FIDH), Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, and the Human Rights League, which are civil plaintiffs in the French case, have also applauded the decision to call for a trial.

"This decision opens the possibility, for the first time in France, of a trial for three senior officials in the repressive Syrian regime."

Mamlouk was formerly head of the Syrian intelligence services. In 2012 he took over as director of the National Security Office.

Hassan was head of the Syrian Air Force intelligence unit at the time of the disappearance of the two Franco-Syrians.

Mahmoud was responsible for the investigation branch of the same air force unit.

France has issued international arrest warrants for the three.

A preliminary investigation into possible forced disappearances and acts of torture constituting crimes against humanity was launched in 2015 after the Dabbagh family filed a complaint.

Obeida Dabbagh welcomed the trial order, telling AFP it signaled to the Syrian government that "one day the impunity will end".

Clemence Bectarte, a lawyer for FIDH, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, and the Dabbagh family said: "It is essential that this trial, which is part of a long fight against impunity, qualifies the regime’s crimes and holds accountable, even by default, its highest officials."

Patrick Dabbagh was born in 1993 and was a student at the College of Arts and Humanities in Damascus, while his father, Mazen, was a principal educational advisor at the French School in Damascus and was born in 1956. They were detained in November 2013 by officers who claimed to belong to the Air Force Intelligence.

According to Mazen Dabbagh's brother-in-law, who was also arrested but released two days later, the two were taken to Mezzeh prison, which reports showed it witnesses torture.

They were not heard from again, and in 2018 the government declared them dead, dating Patrick's death to 2014 and Mazen to 2017.

According to statements by witnesses including defectors from the Syrian army or former detainees in Mezzeh to French investigators and the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, an NGO, they were beaten with iron bars on the soles of their feet, subjected to electric shocks and had their fingernails torn out.

The French investigating judges said it "seems sufficiently established" that they were subjected to torture "so intense that it killed them".

The house of Dabbagh was confiscated in July 2016 and his wife and daughter were kicked out. Its ownership was moved to the "Syrian Arab Republic".

Mazen Darwish, the president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, said that following three trials that led to three convictions in Germany, it is time that France expresses its wish to take part in the battle against the impunity of crimes committed in Syria against civilians.

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Arab World

Turkish Foreign Minister Urges Kurds Not to Be Obstacle to Syria’s Stability

This handout photograph released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry press service shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (2nd-L) and Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler (L) meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (2nd-R) and Syria's Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra (R) in Damascus on December 22, 2025. (Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Service / AFP)
This handout photograph released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry press service shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (2nd-L) and Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler (L) meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (2nd-R) and Syria's Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra (R) in Damascus on December 22, 2025. (Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Service / AFP)
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Turkish Foreign Minister Urges Kurds Not to Be Obstacle to Syria’s Stability

This handout photograph released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry press service shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (2nd-L) and Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler (L) meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (2nd-R) and Syria's Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra (R) in Damascus on December 22, 2025. (Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Service / AFP)
This handout photograph released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry press service shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (2nd-L) and Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler (L) meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (2nd-R) and Syria's Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra (R) in Damascus on December 22, 2025. (Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Service / AFP)

Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday urged Kurdish-led forces to integrate into Syria's army and not obstruct the country's stability, as the deadline for implementing a deal between Damascus and the Kurds approaches. 

Türkiye and Syria have developed close ties since the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year and Ankara, a key supporter of the new authorities, sees the presence of Kurdish forces on its border with Syria as a security threat. 

Fidan, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a presidency statement said. 

The visit aimed to address issues including progress on implementing a March 10 agreement between Damascus and the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Türkiye had said. 

Under the deal, the Kurds' civil and military institutions should be integrated into the central government by year end. 

But differences between the sides have held up the deal's implementation despite international pressure, particularly from Washington. 

"It is important that the SDF be integrated into the Syrian administration through dialogue and reconciliation, in a transparent manner, and that it no longer acts as an obstacle to Syria's territorial integrity and long-term stability," Fidan told a press conference with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani. 

Shaibani said Damascus had received a response from the SDF regarding a draft Syrian defense ministry proposal on integrating the Kurdish-led forces into the army. 

"Work is currently underway to study this response and how it responds to the national interest in achieving the integration and achieving a single unified Syrian territory," Shaibani told Monday's press conference. 

Last week, a Kurdish official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Damascus's proposal included splitting the Kurdish-led forces into three divisions and a number of brigades, including one for women. 

The forces would be deployed under Kurdish commanders in areas of northeast Syria currently under SDF control, the official said. 

- Israel - 

It was the first time Damascus had submitted a written proposal to the SDF since the March agreement was signed, the official added, noting "international and regional efforts" to finalize the agreement by the end of the year. 

Last week, Fidan warned the SDF -- which controls vast swathes of Syria's oil-rich northeast -- that patience among key actors was "running out" and advised against further delays to integrate its forces. 

Türkiye shares a 900-kilometer (550-mile) border with Syria and has launched successive offensives to push the SDF from its frontier. 

On Monday, Fidan said the sides also discussed regional security, noting "Syria's stability means Türkiye’s stability". 

He also expressed hope that talks between Syria and neighboring Israel, which has carried out bombings and incursions in Syria since Assad's fall, would "reach a conclusion". 

"For the stability of the region and for Syria's stability, progress in this regard is important," Fidan said, urging Israel to adopt "an approach based on mutual consent and understanding" rather than "pursuing an expansionist policy". 

Shaibani said the talks also addressed "security issues linked to combating terrorism and preventing" a resurgence of the ISIS group in Syria. 

Last week, US forces said they struck dozens of ISIS targets in Syria following a deadly December 13 attack on American personnel in central Syria's Palmyra. 

With support from the coalition, the SDF spearheaded the offensive that led to ISIS's territorial defeat in Syria in 2019, but the extremists still maintain a presence, particularly in the country's vast desert. 

Syria recently joined the international coalition against ISIS. 

Arab World

Lebanon Says 3 Killed in Israeli Strike on Vehicle Near Sidon

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon Says 3 Killed in Israeli Strike on Vehicle Near Sidon

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)

Lebanon said three people were killed Monday in a strike near Sidon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah operatives, days ahead of a deadline for Lebanon's army to disarm the group near the border.

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah, despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed militant group, which it accuses of rearming.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Monday's strike on a vehicle was carried out by an Israeli drone around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the southern coastal city of Sidon and "killed three people who were inside".

The health ministry reported the same toll.

An Israeli military statement said the army "struck several Hezbollah terrorists in the area of Sidon".

Under heavy US pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah, starting with the south.

The Lebanese army plans to carry out the task south of the Litani River -- about 30 kilometres from the border with Israel -- by year's end.

The latest strike came after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives on Friday took part in a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee for a second time, after holding their first direct talks in decades earlier this month, also under the committee's auspices.

The committee comprises representatives from Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that the goal of the negotiations was to "stop the hostilities, achieve Israel's withdrawal, return prisoners held in Israel and return southern residents to their villages".

- 'Days away' -

Israel has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas that it deems strategic.

"Lebanon awaits positive steps from the Israeli side," Aoun told visiting Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on Monday, a presidency statement said.

In a separate statement, Crosetto said that "even after UNIFIL, Italy will continue to do its part, supporting with conviction the international presence and supporting the capacity development of the Lebanese armed forces".

Asked by AFP if this meant Italy wanted to maintain a military presence in the country, a ministry spokesman confirmed that was the case.

UNIFIL has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, but the UN Security Council voted in August to withdraw the peacekeepers in 2027.

Aoun said Lebanon "welcomes the participation of Italy and other European countries in any force that takes the place" of UNIFIL.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the first phase of the plan to restrict weapons to the state south of the Litani River was "days away from completion", according to a statement from his office.

"The state is ready to move to the second phase, north of the Litani River, based on the plan prepared by the Lebanese army," he added.

More than 340 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry reports.

On Sunday, Israeli strikes in south Lebanon near the border killed one person and wounded another, as Israel also said it targeted Hezbollah members.

Arab World

Italy Says Wants Military to Stay in Lebanon after UN Peacekeepers Leave

A Lebanese army officer and an Italian officer from the UNIFIL force during a joint mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)
A Lebanese army officer and an Italian officer from the UNIFIL force during a joint mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)
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Italy Says Wants Military to Stay in Lebanon after UN Peacekeepers Leave

A Lebanese army officer and an Italian officer from the UNIFIL force during a joint mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)
A Lebanese army officer and an Italian officer from the UNIFIL force during a joint mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)

Italy said Monday it intends to keep a military presence in Lebanon even after the UN peacekeeping force it belongs to leaves as planned from December 31, 2026.

"Even after (the peacekeeping force) UNIFIL, Italy will continue to do its part, supporting with conviction the international presence and supporting the capacity development of the Lebanese armed forces," Defencs Minister Guido Crosetto said during a visit to Lebanon, according to a statement.

Asked by AFP if this meant Italy wanted to maintain a military presence in the country, a ministry spokesman confirmed that this was the case.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, remaining after Israel ended an occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000.

Lebanon had wanted UNIFIL to stay.

But the UN Security Council voted in August to allow only one final extension for UNIFIL after pressure from Israel and its US ally to end the mandate.

UNIFIL is currently led by Italian Major General Diodato Abagnara and numbers 9,923 troops from 49 countries, according to the force's website.

Italy is the second biggest contributing country with 1,099 soldiers deployed after Indonesia which has 1,232 soldiers.

Israel has hailed the termination of UNIFIL and urged the Beirut government to exert its authority after an Israeli military campaign which devastated Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.

Under a truce between Israel and Hezbollah, the long-fledgling Lebanese national army has been deploying in southern Lebanon and dismantling Hezbollah's infrastructure.

"Support is needed to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces, so that they are in the best possible position to defend the country, ensuring security and respect for its borders," Crosetto said in Monday's statement.

"We will guarantee our presence in multilateral and bilateral contexts," he said.