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Germany Arrests Five Suspected of War Crimes in Syria

German police secure the main train station in Munich, Germany, January 1, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle
German police secure the main train station in Munich, Germany, January 1, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle
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Germany Arrests Five Suspected of War Crimes in Syria

German police secure the main train station in Munich, Germany, January 1, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle
German police secure the main train station in Munich, Germany, January 1, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

German police arrested four stateless Syrian Palestinians and one Syrian national suspected of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria some 10 years ago, prosecutors said.
The men, identified in line with German privacy laws only as Jihad A., Mahmoud A., Sameer S. and Wael S. are suspected to have been affiliated with the Free Palestine Movement in Syria. Mazhar J. is suspected to have been a Syrian Intelligence Officer, said prosecutors in a statement on Wednesday.
"The individuals ... are strongly suspected of killing and attempting to kill civilians (which) qualified as crimes against humanity and war crimes," the statement said.
Jihad A., Mazhar J. and Sameer S. were arrested in Berlin, Mahmoud A. in Frankenthal in the south-western state of Rhineland-Palatinate and Wael S. in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern, said prosecutors.
The individuals are suspected of participating in a violent crackdown on a peaceful anti-government protest in Al Yarmouk in July 2012, in which civilian protesters were targeted and shot at. Six individuals died and others were seriously injured, Reuters quoted prosecutors as saying.
The suspected militia members are also accused of punching and kicking civilians between 2012 and 2014 at checkpoints and beating them with rifle butts, according to prosecutors.
One individual was handed over to the Syrian Military Intelligence Service to be imprisoned and tortured, they said. In addition, one of the suspects is suspected of having turned in to authorities three people killed in a mass execution of 41 civilians in April 2013.
The arrests were made thanks to Germany's universal jurisdiction laws, which allow courts to prosecute crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. Authorities coordinated with Sweden in a joint investigation.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a separate statement it had arrested three people in Sweden for crimes against international law committed in Syria in 2012.

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Keir Starmer Officially Takes Power as British PM after Landslide Victory

King Charles III officially appointed Keir Starmer as prime minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace - AFP
King Charles III officially appointed Keir Starmer as prime minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace - AFP
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Keir Starmer Officially Takes Power as British PM after Landslide Victory

King Charles III officially appointed Keir Starmer as prime minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace - AFP
King Charles III officially appointed Keir Starmer as prime minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace - AFP

Britain's head of state King Charles III officially appointed Keir Starmer as prime minister on Friday during an audience at Buckingham Palace, a few hours after his Labour party swept to power.

Labour leader Keir Starmer officially became British prime minister on Friday hours after his Labour Party swept to power in a landslide victory after more than a decade in opposition, AFP reported.

Starmer was elevated to the nation's leader after a private ceremony with King Charles III in Buckingham Palace.

In the merciless choreography of British politics, Starmer is taking charge in 10 Downing St. shortly after Conservative leader Rishi Sunak and his family left the official residence and King Charles III accepted his resignation at Buckingham Palace.

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“This is a difficult day, but I leave this job honored to have been prime minister of the best country in the world,” Sunak said in his farewell address.

Sunak had conceded defeat earlier in the morning, saying the voters had delivered a “sobering verdict.”

In a reflective farewell speech in the same place where he had called for the snap election six weeks earlier, Sunak wished Starmer all the best but also acknowledged his missteps.

“I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss,” Sunak said. "To all the Conservative candidates and campaigners who worked tirelessly but without success, I’m sorry that we could not deliver what your efforts deserved.”

With almost all the results in, Labour had won 410 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and the Conservatives 118.”

Speaking as dawn broke in London, he said Labour would offer “the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day.”

For Starmer, it's a massive triumph that will bring huge challenges, as he faces a weary electorate impatient for change against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.

“Nothing has gone well in the last 14 years,” said London voter James Erskine, who was optimistic for change in the hours before polls closed. “I just see this as the potential for a seismic shift, and that’s what I’m hoping for.”

And that's what Starmer promised, saying “change begins now."

Anand Menon, professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London, said British voters were about to see a marked change in political atmosphere from the tumultuous “politics as pantomime” of the last few years.

“I think we’re going to have to get used again to relatively stable government, with ministers staying in power for quite a long time, and with government being able to think beyond the very short term to medium-term objectives,” he said.

Britain has experienced a run of turbulent years – some of it of the Conservatives’ own making and some of it not – that has left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The UK divorce from the European Union followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy, while lockdown-breaching parties held by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff caused widespread anger.

Rising poverty, crumbling infrastructure and overstretched National Health Service have led to gripes about “Broken Britain.”