Former Syrian General to Face Swedish Court over Alleged War Crimes

Police officers intervene at the scene where a man set a copy of the Quran on fire outside a mosque in Stockholm, Sweden, June 28, 2023. EPA/STEFAN JERREVANG
Police officers intervene at the scene where a man set a copy of the Quran on fire outside a mosque in Stockholm, Sweden, June 28, 2023. EPA/STEFAN JERREVANG
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Former Syrian General to Face Swedish Court over Alleged War Crimes

Police officers intervene at the scene where a man set a copy of the Quran on fire outside a mosque in Stockholm, Sweden, June 28, 2023. EPA/STEFAN JERREVANG
Police officers intervene at the scene where a man set a copy of the Quran on fire outside a mosque in Stockholm, Sweden, June 28, 2023. EPA/STEFAN JERREVANG

A former Syrian army general will appear before a Stockholm court over his alleged role in war crimes committed in Syria in 2012, according to the indictment seen Wednesday by AFP.

Mohammed Hamo, 65, who lives in Sweden, is accused of having participated in the call for indiscriminate strikes in and around the cities of Hama and Homs between January 1 and July 20, 2012.

The strikes were carried out by air and land without distinction -- as required by international law -- between civilian and military targets, the indictment states.

They also failed to respect the principle of proportionality to achieve the military goal sought, prosecutor Karolina Wieslander said. Hamo, given his role at the time, is accused of being complicit in these crimes.

He had particularly made decisions related to arming operational units and was responsible in that period for implementing various military operations, according to AFP.

Seven civil parties, several of them Syrians from the cities in question, will testify during the trial.

Among them is a British photographer who was injured during one of the strikes.



Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to Present ‘Victory Plan’ at Ramstein Meeting

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to Present ‘Victory Plan’ at Ramstein Meeting

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Ukraine will present its "victory plan" at a regular meeting of its allies at Ramstein in Germany on October 12, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram on Saturday.

"We will present the victory plan, clear, specific steps for a just end to the war," he wrote.

Ukraine, which has been fending off an invasion from much larger neighbor Russia for nearly 1,000 days, has in recent months teased a plan to end the war.

The details have not been made public, but Zelenskiy presented it to US President Joe Biden, as well as both major candidates running in the country's presidential election, when he visited Washington last month.

The US State Department spokesman said the plan contained "a number of productive steps" which the US would engage with Ukraine on.

However, the Wall Street Journal newspaper cited anonymous US officials as saying that the plan was a repackaged request for more weapons and a lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range missiles, and lacked a comprehensive strategy.