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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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Iran's President Says Tehran Has to Deal with Washington

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iran's President Says Tehran Has to Deal with Washington

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will not be able to ignore its arch-foe the United States and needs to "handle its enemies with forbearance", state media reported on Tuesday, a week after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.

"Whether we like it or not, we will have to deal with the US in the regional and international arenas, so it is better to manage this relation ourselves," Pezeshkian, who is viewed as relatively moderate, said.

"We have to treat our friends with generosity and handle our enemies with forbearance."

In 2018, then-President Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and re-imposed harsh sanctions as part of his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran.

While there have been no reports that the Trump administration plans to hold talks with Tehran after it takes office in January, the President-elect said during his election campaign "I don't want to do damage to Iran but they cannot have nuclear weapons."

Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran to revive the nuclear deal were initiated under the administration of US President Joe Biden, but failed. Iran is still formally part of the deal but has scaled back commitments to honor it due to US sanctions re-imposed on Iran.

Earlier on Tuesday, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said Iran will pursue whatever secures its interest, when asked if there could be direct talks with the Trump administration.

She cautioned that the final decision for talks rests with the top political figure Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council.

"The maximum pressure campaign of Trump has failed, even if people have been burdened by it. What is important will be actions and not words, but we recommend Trump to take into account the failure of his past policies," Mohajerani added.