France issues new arrest warrant for Syria's Assad, legal source says
The warrant was issued on Jan. 20 as part of an investigation into the killing of Franco-Syrian national Salah Abou Nabour in 2017.
Poster with former Syrian President Bashar Al Assad on building facade
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French judges issued a warrant for al-Assad over war crimes, including targeting civilians.
This is the second arrest warrant for Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by insurgent forces.
Assad's government denies using chemical weapons during the civil war that began in 2011.
French investigating magistrates have issued an arrest warrant for ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on suspicion of complicity in war crimes, including the deliberate targeting of civilians, a legal source said Tuesday.
The warrant, issued Jan. 20, is part of an investigation into the case of Salah Abou Nabour, a Franco-Syrian national killed on June 7, 2017, in a bombing raid in Syria.
This is the second arrest warrant issued by French judges for Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by insurgent forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
In November 2023, French judges issued a separate warrant for Assad on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.
That warrant followed an investigation into chemical attacks in Douma and Eastern Ghouta in August 2013 that killed more than 1,000 people.
Assad's government has denied using chemical weapons against opponents during the civil war, which began in March 2011.
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