Top ICC official meets Syrian leader to help prosecute Assad regime crimes

Ahmed al Sharaa, the leader of Syria's new administration, has 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 for “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 Assad and 17 senior officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a statement on January 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.

The ICC, which has 125 member states, is the world's permanent court to prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.

Syria is not a member state, but could accept the ICC's jurisdiction as a first step, Khan told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

"Some of the remarks coming out of Syria by the transitional government seem to have indicated an openness to justice and accountability for crimes that may have taken place," Khan said in the interview.

"I think we're happy to take part in the conversation to tell them the options that they have."