ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan Shakes Hands With A Terrorist (Daled Amos) ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Friday, February 14, 2025

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan Shakes Hands With A Terrorist (Daled Amos)

In the search for justice, the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan apparently makes house calls.

Last month, Mr. Khan visited Syria and shook hands with Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria's new leader. Why? According to France 24, Khan's office announced that the purpose of the visit was to see how the office of the prosecutor.

can offer its partnership in support of the efforts of Syrian authorities towards accountability for alleged crimes committed in the country.

This would be a major change in the UN Security Council's policy. For years, the UN Security Council has been deadlocked on whether to refer the devastation of Syria to the ICC. In 2014, China and Russia blocked a Security Council resolution to refer Syria to the ICC.

Khan's new friend, Ahmed al-Sharaa, used to be known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani when he founded and led Jabhat al-Nusra in 2012 when it was the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda.

Al-Nusra rebranded as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS) in 2016 and claimed to have cut its ties to al-Qaeda. Then, in 2017, JFS merged with other Islamist groups to form Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Abu Mohammad al-Julan remained the leader of HTS.

When he met with Khan, he was using the name Ahmed al-Sharaa, in part to distance himself from his terrorist past.

Al Nusra / HTS was designated as a terrorist group for a reason:

o  June 2015: Fighters from Syria's al Qaeda branch, the Nusra Front, killed at least 20 Druze villagers, raising fear among Syria's minorities.

o  July 2016: Amnesty International reported that “In Aleppo and Idleb today, armed groups have free rein to commit war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law with impunity. Shockingly, we have also documented armed groups using the same methods of torture that are routinely used by the Syrian government." One of the groups cited was al Nusra.

o  March 2017: Al Nusra claimed responsibility for a twin bombing in Damascus that killed at least 40 people, the majority of them Iraqi Shia pilgrims.

Back in those days, Ahmed al-Sharaa did not wear a suit:

Because of this history, the US, the EU, and the United Nations designated HTS as a terrorist organization:

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an armed group designated as a terrorist organization by the UN Security Council, has emerged as the dominant force in Syria, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

This article on UN News is noteworthy because it contains an interview with Kiho Cha, a senior political affairs officer at the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. Cha describes a workaround that allows for cooperation with terrorist groups:

Until recently there were some questions as to whether humanitarian actors would even be able to operate in Syria. However, there is now a carve out to the assets freeze measures against HTS, specifically for humanitarian organizations.

This carve-out allows humanitarian organizations to operate without being cited for sanctions violations.

The question is: how far can these exemptions go?

UN News: Are there similar carve outs to allow international negotiations to take place?

Kiho Cha: Yes, there are generally procedures by which a petitioner, usually an individual, would seek an exemption for a variety of reasons. For example, members of the Taliban who say that they need to travel outside of Afghanistan for political facilitation. But it could be for other reasons, such as medical needs. Petitioners can also apply for exemptions to the asset freeze.

Did Khan have something like this in mind to justify shaking hands with the terrorist?

Israel might want to know.

According to the Kurdish news site Rudaw, Israel was outraged with the ICC chief prosecutor's Syria visit, and Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's foreign minister posted online:

Recall that Khan took the odd step to first announce the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant during an interview with Christiane Amanpour.

According to Barak Ravid, Khan backed out of an agreed-upon trip to discuss the investigation with Israeli officials:

We recently posted that in November, Ynet News reported that Khan had been using a pro-Palestinian law firm in connection with the case, raising questions about his impartiality:

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan's engagement of Bindmans, a law firm linked to Palestinian advocacy, raises conflict of interest concerns, potentially undermining his impartiality in pursuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant

Bindmans represents several Palestinian organizations that have urged Khan to issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli figures. Notably, Tayab Ali, a partner at the firm, is the director of the "International Center of Justice for Palestinians," a London-based organization actively involved in international legal actions against Israel. Another partner, Alice Hardy, represents the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, headquartered in Ramallah.

These two Palestinian organizations, closely associated with Bindmans, have submitted multiple notices to the ICC regarding Palestinian issues.

Over and over, the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has shown a decided lack of professionalism and respect for proper procedure. All things considered, a representative of the International Criminal Court shaking hands with the leader of a recognized terrorist group might just be business as usual.