MADRID: Syria’s territorial integrity must be preserved following Bashar Assad’s ouster in an Islamist-led militant offensive, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday during talks in Madrid with his Lebanese counterpart.
During his meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Sanchez “stressed the need for a peaceful and stable Syria, for the benefit of the Syrian people and all countries in the region, especially Lebanon,” the Spanish government said in a statement after the closed-door meeting.
“He also called for an orderly political transition for the Syrian people while maintaining the territorial integrity of the country and avoiding further escalation in the region,” it added.
Sanchez and Mikati also discussed the situation in Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah reached a fragile ceasefire agreement at the end of November after two months of all-out war.
The priority is for this agreement to become a “permanent ceasefire” and “pave the way for the full application” of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which stipulates that southern Lebanon must be free of arms that do not belong to the Lebanese state, the Spanish government statement said.
Adopted in August 2006, the resolution was key to ending the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 and paving the way for long-term stability along the border.
“We confirm Lebanon’s commitment” to this resolution, Mikati wrote on social network X, stressing the need for Israel to “respect the ceasefire decision and withdraw from the cities of southern Lebanon.”
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Syria’s territorial integrity must be respected: Spain PM
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Syria’s territorial integrity must be respected: Spain PM
- During his meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Sanchez “stressed the need for a peaceful and stable Syria, for the benefit of the Syrian people”
- Sanchez and Mikati also discussed the situation in Lebanon
Germany charges suspected former Syrian intelligence agent with dozens of murders
- Accused, identified as Fahad A, is suspected of interrogating, torturing and killing inmates in Damascus prison under Bashar Assad
German prosecutors have charged a suspected former member of Syrian intelligence with crimes against humanity and the torture and murder of dozens of prisoners held in a Damascus prison under Bashar Assad, a statement said on Monday.
The accused, who was arrested in May and identified only as Fahad A. under German privacy rules, was suspected of working as a guard in a prison in the Syrian capital between the end of April 2011 and mid-April 2012, it said.
“There, he participated in well over 100 interrogations during which prisoners were subjected to severe physical abuse, such as electric shocks or beatings with cables,” it said.
“On the orders of his superiors, the accused also abused inmates at night, for example by hanging them from the ceiling, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions. As a result of such mistreatment and the catastrophic prison conditions, at least 70 prisoners died.”
German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.
Based on these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last few years in Germany, which is home to around one million Syrians.
The accused, who was arrested in May and identified only as Fahad A. under German privacy rules, was suspected of working as a guard in a prison in the Syrian capital between the end of April 2011 and mid-April 2012, it said.
“There, he participated in well over 100 interrogations during which prisoners were subjected to severe physical abuse, such as electric shocks or beatings with cables,” it said.
“On the orders of his superiors, the accused also abused inmates at night, for example by hanging them from the ceiling, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions. As a result of such mistreatment and the catastrophic prison conditions, at least 70 prisoners died.”
German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.
Based on these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last few years in Germany, which is home to around one million Syrians.
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