French-Syrian man arrested in France for supplying chemical parts to Syria

French police arrested a French-Syrian man on suspicion of supplying parts of the manufacture of chemical weapons to Syria through his shipping company.

According to the sources, the suspect was born in 1962 and lives abroad and was arrested on Saturday in the southern region of France. So as he returned to France with his family members to spend the vacation.

On the account, a judicial source said, “He has been held under doubt of conspiracy to commit a crime against humanity, accessory to crimes against humanity and accessory to war crimes.”

The report said it is the first time someone has been placed under formal investigation in France regarding favouring the Syrian army, citing a source.

According to the sources, the alleged crime dates back to March 2011, the beginning of the civil war in Syria, and lasted at least until January 2018 and probably beyond.

“This man is accused of having, working via a company based in different places, in France and in UAE, participated in supplying the means to various state structures of the Syrian regime in charge of the production of non-conventional weapons.”

The war in Syria has killed around 500,000 people and caused the most significant conflict-related displacement since World War II.

Syria has denied the use of chemical weapons. It claims to have abandoned its army inventory under a 2013 agreement between the United States and Russia, triggered by a sarin gas attack that has killed 1,400 in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

However, Syria was deprived of its rights by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in April after investigations revealed that it was the cause of further poisonous gas attacks.

It will remain suspended until the chemical weapons and weapons manufacturing facility is fully declared.