French investigators issue new arrest warrant for Syria's Assad
France has issued a new arrest warrant for former Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on charges related to war crimes committed in 2017, according to a source close to the case.
Two French investigating magistrates have issued an arrest warrant against ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, the second such move by France's judicial authorities, a source said on Tuesday.
Assad, who was ousted late last year in a lightning offensive by Islamist forces, is held responsible in the warrant issued on Monday as "commander-in-chief of the armed forces" for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a civilian, a source close to the case, asking not to be named, told AFP.
This mandate was issued as part of an investigation into the case of Salah Abou Nabout, a 59-year-old Franco-Syrian national and former French teacher, who was killed on June 7, 2017 following the bombing of his home by Syrian army helicopters.
The French judiciary considers that Assad ordered and provided the means for this attack, according to the source.
Six senior Syrian army officials are already the target of French arrest warrants over the case in an investigation that began in 2018.
"This case represents the culmination of a long fight for justice, in which I and my family believed from the start," said Omar Abou Nabout, the victim's son, in a statement.
In all, the French justice system has issued 14 arrest warrants for Syrian officials, according to an AFP tally.
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