France issues arrest warrant for Syria's Bashar al-Assad

France has issued an international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accused of President over chemical attacks in 2013, a judicial source and plaintiffs in the case said on Wednesday, November 15.

The judicial source told Agence France-Presse that Assad was also suspected of complicity in war crimes for the attacks, blamed by the opposition on the regime, that killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus in August 2013.

International warrants were also issued for the arrests of Assad's brother Maher, the de-facto chief of a Syrian elite military unit, and two armed forces generals. France claims worldwide jurisdiction for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.