France issues arrest warrant for al-Assad and 3 other Syrian officials

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Nov 2023 10:03
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The French court issued international arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Arab Army General and commander of the Republican Guard, and three other generals regarding on cases that have been widely debunked.

Syrian President Bashar Assad waves to his supporters at a polling station during the Presidential elections in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, May 26, 2021. (AP)

An international warrant has been issued for the arrest of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian General and Commander of the Syrian Arab Army Republican Guard, Maher al-Assad, and two other Syrian Arab Army generals.

Since 2021, the French court has concerned itself with investigating the alleged 2013 chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs which has been widely debunked.

The investigation and lawsuit followed a joint complaint that was filed, in France, by the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) NGO, the lawyers' association Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), and the Syrian Archive.

It is important to note that SCM's headquarters is in France after its offices were shut down repeatedly in Damascus, the last time being in 2012. The OSJI was established by the George Soros' Open Society Foundation, and the Syrian Archive was established in 2014 to allegedly document the so-called "Syrian uprising" of 2011 which was later established to be a war supported by the collective West against the Syrian Arab Republic and what it stands for vis-a-vis the Axis of Resistance and the Arab world.

Chronology of the chemical attack debunked: not the Syrian government

In November of 2021, the Grayzone website published a series of "leaks [that] expose how senior officials from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) censored important findings in the Syrian city of Douma.

In its investigation, the website stated that "in the early days of the OPCW’s investigation of an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria, expert toxicologists ruled out chlorine gas as the cause of death for more than 40 civilians reported at the scene."

The investigation confirmed that "instead of publishing this finding, senior OPCW officials concealed it, and then launched an investigation of a veteran inspector who questioned the censorship."

The Grayzone's report added that "the suppression of the toxicologists is among a series of deceptions by the OPCW leadership to corrupt the Douma probe’s scientific process".

Findings concealed and suppressed

According to the investigation, this report was concealed, undermining the attack as a public pretext for US-led airstrikes on Syria two months prior, and raising the possibility that the rebels launched the April 7, 2018 incident to frame the Syrian government.

In September 2022, Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh, considered that the OPCW and the Security Council Committee's continued politicization of the so-called "chemical file" in Syria proves selectivity and double standards.

During a Security Council session on the "chemical file," Sabbagh reiterated Syria's stance regarding the illegality of establishing the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT).

"The IIT has been established illegitimately. We reject all the wrong and unprofessional working methods of that team, which naturally lead to false conclusions that only serve the agenda of some Western countries that use that team as a tool to serve their hostile agendas against Syria," the Syrian diplomat stressed.

'Procedural irregularities'

In June 2023, the Berlin 21 group of experts, addressed a letter to the Syrian Permanent Mission and representatives of international missions to OPCW. In the letter, they explained that they had reviewed the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) investigations into the alleged Douma incident, in which the West blames the Syrian government for conducting a chemical attack against the opposition, including all findings related to chemistry, toxicology, ballistics, and witness testimonies. The group found procedural irregularities that were considered grounds for controversy over the investigations that took place in connection with the Douma incident.

In August of the same year, the Syrian Foreign Ministry vehemently condemned recent statements from the French Foreign Ministry and the spokesperson of the US National Security Council accusing the Syrian forces of using chemical weapons in 2013, slamming them as false and baseless accusations, SANA reported.

The Ministry dismissed the statements as being part of an ongoing campaign of misinformation and deceit. The Syrian government firmly believes that these allegations serve to divert attention from their true perpetrators and to conceal the involvement of France and the United States in heinous crimes within Syrian territory, the statement read.

"The French and American foreign ministries' statements are nothing but an extension of their previous endeavors to spread falsehoods and lies, which further confirms their active role in orchestrating grave offenses against Syria," it added.

The Ministry further elaborated that such statements are designed to obfuscate the actual perpetrators behind various incidents and to mask the shared responsibility of France and the US in supporting terrorist factions operating within Syria.

The Ministry added in its statement that the persistent patterns of frail allegations are clear proof of the two countries' involvement in various crimes that have occurred within Syrian borders.