Germany arrests Syrian on war crimes charges

German authorities Wednesday arrest a Syrian national on war crimes charges, on suspicion of commanding a rebel militia in Aleppo that committed atrocities and plundered artifacts for sale.

Federal prosecutors say in a statement that the 41-year-old accused, identified only as Ibrahim Al F., had been detained in the western region of Westphalia on a German arrest warrant.

“The accused is strongly suspected of treating people entitled to protection under international humanitarian law cruelly and inhumanely in the autumn of 2012 during the Syrian civil war,” prosecutors say.

Ibrahim Al F. is believed to have led a 150-man district militia in Aleppo belonging to the Islamist rebel group Ghuraba al-Sham, then part of the Free Syrian Army, a loose coalition of opponents to President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Prosecutors says the militia, however, mainly pursued “self-serving aims.”

These included repeated plunder after the withdrawal of government troops from parts of Aleppo, including the looting of valuable art that the accused later tried to sell.

— AFP