Germany arrests 2 ex-spies of Syrian regime

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - German police arrested two Syrian ex-spies on charges of crimes against humanity, torture, mistreatment and extra-judicial killings, officials said on Wednesday.

Anwar R. and Eyad A. were arrested on Tuesday, following police operations in the south-western state of Rhineland-Palatinate and Berlin, the Federal Prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The 56-year-old Anwar R. was a senior official of Syria’s General Intelligence Directorate until September 2012, and he was suspected of being responsible for the systematic torture of hundreds of civilians at the Al-Khatib detention facility in Damascus.

The other suspect, 42-year-old Eyad A., was suspected of killing two people, when he worked for the Syrian intelligence between July 2011 and January 2012. He was also accused of involvement in torture and mistreatment of at least 2,000 detainees.