French investigating judges have issued an arrest warrant for ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on suspicion of complicity in war crimes, in particular in launching a deliberate attack on civilians, a source said late last night, Reuters reported.
The warrant was issued on January 20 as part of an investigation into the case of Salah Abu Nabour, a French-Syrian citizen, who was killed on June 7, 2017, in a bombing in Syria.
This is the second arrest warrant issued by French judges for the former Syrian leader, who was overthrown by rebel forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in early December 2024.
In November 2023, French judges issued the first warrant against Bashar al-Assad on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes.
This followed a French investigation into chemical attacks in Douma and the Eastern Ghouta district in August 2013 that killed more than 1.000 people.
Assad's government has in the past denied using chemical weapons against its opponents in the civil war, which broke out in March 2011.
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