Marco Rubio slams France's plans to recognize Palestinian state, calls it a 'reckless decision'
Macron said on Thursday that France intends to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly, adding that he hoped it would help bring peace to the Middle East.
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"This reckless decision only serves
Hamas propaganda
and sets back peace," Rubio said in a post on X.
Washington's ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said in June he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a U.S. foreign policy goal.
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The Hindu
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- The Hindu
Cambodia calls for ceasefire with Thailand after deadly clashes
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Business Standard
7 minutes ago
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French court upholds some of Assad's protections, allows future warrants
France's highest court on Friday upheld some of Syrian ex-leader Bashar Assad's personal immunity as a head of state while green-lighting possible future war crime warrants, drawing criticism from human rights lawyers and Syrian activists. The Cour de Cassation upheld Assad's head-of-state immunity, but added that since he is no longer in office, new arrest warrants may have been or may be issued against him for acts that may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. The decision is a blow to activists who had hoped the court would set aside the immunity, a decision that could have had far-reaching consequences for other leaders accused of atrocities. From our side as a victim, this is a huge mistake. This will support another dictatorship to keep doing this kind of crime they know they will enjoy immunity, said Mazen Darwish, president of the Syrian Centre for Media, which collected evidence of war crimes. It is a sad day for us, Darwish said. Missed opportunity for 'justice' The president of the Cour de Cassation, Christophe Soulard, said in the ruling that 19 judges had declined to lift Assad's immunity, but that a new arrest warrant could be issued to pave the way for his trial in absentia in France over the use of chemical weapons in Ghouta in 2013. Human rights lawyers had sought to enable prosecution of leaders linked to atrocities while they are in power, not just when they leave. But international law currently forbids it. Under current international law, crimes against humanity and war crimes are not exceptions to the principle of jurisdictional immunity for sitting foreign heads of state, Soulard said. Assad, the former leader of Syria now in exile in Russia, retained no lawyers for these charges and has denied that he was behind the chemical attacks. 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Poverty, sectarianism, destruction and violence still haunt the country. Syrian authorities are now investigating nearly 300 people for crimes during several days of fighting on the coast earlier this year. The new interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus have pledged to work with the United Nations on investigating further war crimes of the Assad government and the civil war. While disappointed in the verdict in France, Darwish is working on 29 cases against Assad and other figures who have fled to Russia, the Gulf, Lebanon and Europe. He said that many Syrians hope Assad sits for a fair trial in Syria. It should be done in Damascus, but we need also a lot of guarantees that we will have a fair trial even for this suspect, he said. His organisation has already received requests to bring to court war crimes accusations against those involved in recent bloodshed in southern Syria. So anyone, whatever his name, or the regime, or their authority, we will keep fighting this type of crime, Darwish said.
Mint
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