Sweden to Charge Militant over Jordanian Pilot Burnt to Death in Syria

A Swedish flag hangs outside a store on a busy street as visitors walk past in the background in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 2023 REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
A Swedish flag hangs outside a store on a busy street as visitors walk past in the background in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 2023 REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
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Sweden to Charge Militant over Jordanian Pilot Burnt to Death in Syria

A Swedish flag hangs outside a store on a busy street as visitors walk past in the background in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 2023 REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
A Swedish flag hangs outside a store on a busy street as visitors walk past in the background in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 2023 REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo

Prosecutors said Thursday they plan to indict a convicted Swedish militant on charges including the 2015 killing of a Jordanian pilot burned to death in a cage in Syria.

Sweden's Prosecution Authority said in a statement it planned to charge a 32-year-old Swedish citizen on May 27 with "serious war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria".

The trial is scheduled to begin on June 4.

Prosecutors did not name their suspect in the statement, but Sweden asked France for the extradition of 32-year-old Osama Krayem, already sentenced for the 2015 attacks in Paris and the attacks in Brussels a year later, AFP reported.

The prosectors' statement said an aircraft belonging to the Royal Jordanian Air Force was shot down in Syria on December 24, 2014.

The pilot was captured by the ISIS group the same day near the central city of Raqqa, it added.

The pilot was locked in a cage and burned alive and images of his death were broadcast by the extremist group.

Krayem "is suspected of having executed the pilot, together with other perpetrators belonging to ISIS said prosecutors.

"The investigation has shown that the man, armed and masked, together with others forced the pilot into a metal cage," they added.

"The cage was subsequently set on fire by one of the co-perpetrators, and the pilot died as a consequence of the fire."

Krayem, who is from Malmo in southern Sweden, joined ISIS in Syria in 2014 before returning to Europe.

In June 2022, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in France for assisting in the planning of the 2015 Paris attacks, in which 130 people died.

The following year, he was given a life sentence in Belgium for participating in the bombings on March 22, 2016, at Brussels' main airport and on the metro system, which killed 32 people.

He has been "temporarily handed over to Sweden to participate in the trial", the prosecution said.



NATO: Ukraine Still Receiving Arms Despite Mideast War

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte via Reuters/File
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte via Reuters/File
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NATO: Ukraine Still Receiving Arms Despite Mideast War

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte via Reuters/File
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte via Reuters/File

Ukraine is still getting essential defense equipment despite the war in the Middle East, which is depleting stockpiles in Europe and the United States, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Thursday.

"The good news is that essential equipment into Ukraine continues to flow," he told reporters. That included American-made Patriot missile interceptors, which Ukraine desperately needs, he added, AFP reported.

The PURL program, launched last year, allows Ukraine to receive US equipment financed by European countries.

Some 75 percent of the missiles used by Patriot batteries in Ukraine have been supplied through the program, and 90 percent of the munitions used by other air-defense systems, Rutte added.

Rutte called on European countries to increase their own production capacity.

"They need to produce more extra production lines, extra shifts, opening new factories. The money is there," he said.


Germany FM Says 'Encouraging' if US Speaking Directly to Iran

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. (Reuters: File Photo)
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. (Reuters: File Photo)
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Germany FM Says 'Encouraging' if US Speaking Directly to Iran

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. (Reuters: File Photo)
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. (Reuters: File Photo)

Germany's foreign minister Thursday said it was encouraging if the United States was talking directly to Iran to end the war in the Middle East, but Washington should make its intentions clear.

"I hear that there are signs that the US is speaking directly to Iran. I think that this is encouraging and this is welcome," Johann Wadephul told reporters before heading into the meeting of G7 foreign ministers outside Paris, AFP reported.

With US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set to join the discussions from Friday, he added: "For the German government it is of great importance to know precisely what our American partners are intending."


US Envoy Witkoff Says Iran is Seeking an Off-ramp

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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US Envoy Witkoff Says Iran is Seeking an Off-ramp

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

The United States has sent Iran a "15-point action list" as a basis for negotiations to end the current conflict, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said on Thursday, adding that there are signs that Tehran was interested in making a deal.

 

Witkoff, speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, said that the nascent talks could be successful if the Iranians realize there were no good alternatives - a realization Tehran might be coming to, he argued, Reuters reported.

 

"We will see where things lead, and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point with no good alternatives for them other than more death and destruction," Witkoff told reporters.

 

"We have strong signs that this is a possibility."

 

Witkoff said Pakistan had been acting as a mediator, confirming statements from Pakistani officials.