BERLIN – German prosecutors have filed war crimes and terrorism charges against a Syrian man accused of membership in al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate and involvement in the 2013 kidnapping of a Canadian serving with the U.N. observer force in the Golan Heights.
Federal prosecutors said Friday that the 25-year-old, identified only as Suliman Al-S. in line with German privacy rules, faces charges of committing a war crime against humanitarian operations, kidnapping and membership in a foreign terrorist organization.
They say that the suspect was a member of the Nusra Front and participated in the Feb. 17, 2013 kidnapping near Damascus. The Canadian man was held in a building southwest of the Syrian capital until he escaped eight months later.
The accused allegedly helped guard the victim during his captivity.