German Kurdish group accuses Syrian president Sharaa of war crimes, genocide

A Kurdish group in Germany has filed a complaint accusing Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, German prosecutors confirmed to AFP on Monday.

Al-Sharaa, long known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, took over as Syria's interim leader after his rebel forces toppled longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad late last year.

In a complaint filed last week with Germany's federal public prosecutor's office, the Kurdish Community of Germany (KGD) group accused Sharaa of "genocide and the most serious war crimes".

"Al-Jolani bears joint responsibility for the genocide of Yazidi Kurds in 2014 and for continued, systematic acts of violence against minorities in Syria and Iraq," alleged Mehmet Tanriverdi, the KGD's deputy chairman, in a statement.

"With the principle of universal jurisdiction, Germany has the opportunity -- and the duty -- to prosecute such perpetrators, regardless of where the crimes were committed," he said.

Sharaa was once closely affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and his Islamist militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was itself only removed from the US list of terrorist groups in July.

But the Syrian leader has sought to break with his jihadist past and present a more moderate image since taking power from Assad after more than a decade of bloody civil war.

He met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

However, the KGD has vehemently objected to the mainstream acceptance of Sharaa.

The group denounced Chancellor Friedrich Merz's invitation for Sharaa to visit Germany for talks on the deportation of Syrian citizens from the country.

The KGD said it has "serious concerns" about Germany allowing "a suspected war criminal to stay in the country".

The Syrian embassy in Berlin did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry about the complaint on Monday.