ICC chief prosecutor meets leadership of new Syrian administration

ISTANBUL

Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Syria's new administration, on Friday met with Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor, in the capital Damascus.

According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, al-Sharaa and Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met with a delegation from the International Criminal Court, headed by Khan.

A statement from the ICC said Khan expressed his gratitude to “open and constructive discussions on building partnership towards accountability for crimes” committed in Syria.

Last week, Turkish lawyers representing victims in Syria encouraged the ICC to “urgently” issue arrest warrants for Bashar Assad and 17 senior officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a statement on Jan. 11 after meeting Syrian authorities, the lawyers, Gulden Sonmez and Cihat Gokdemir, said they initiated proceedings in 2017 on behalf of their clients, who suffered under the Baath regime, to prosecute Assad and senior military and political figures at the ICC in The Hague.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar