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Sarin officer detained
Syrian authorities arrested former colonel Ahmed Habib Ali, whom the Interior Ministry described as “a chemical weapons expert,” accusing him of overseeing sarin gas depots and chemical weapons manufacturing during Bashar al-Assad’s era.
“Syrian authorities have arrested a former officer they say was a chemical weapons specialist in charge of sarin gas depots and chemical weapons manufacturing in the regime of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad”
The Interior Ministry said Ali “was responsible for sarin gas storage facilities and chemical manufacturing within Unit 417,” a chemical weapons site near Damascus, and that he was among the officers who supervised “about 20 bombs loaded with sarin gas, each weighing 250kg [550lb].”
Al Jazeera reported that the bombs were “used in attacks targeting Syrian cities and towns in 2013 and 2017,” while The Syrian Observer said the ministry alleged the munitions were used in attacks on Syrian towns and cities in 2013 and 2017 without specifying which incidents.
The arrest came just a week after Syria was reinstated into the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), after the watchdog had stripped Syria of its voting rights in 2021 following findings that its air force used sarin and chlorine gas on its own people, according to Al Jazeera.
Judicial cases expand
The chemical-weapons arrest coincided with Syria’s new authorities intensifying legal and security action against figures linked to the former regime, including reopening high-profile trials in Damascus.
The Syrian Observer said the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus convened a second public hearing on Wednesday in the case of Wassim al-Assad, with Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan presiding over a session attended by representatives of Syrian and international human rights organisations.
Prosecutors presented witness testimony alongside documents, photographs and video material as evidence, and the Interior Ministry announced Wassim al-Assad’s arrest on 21 June 2025 as the result of a “carefully planned” operation by the General Intelligence Service, according to The Syrian Observer.
In a parallel case, the same court held a fifth hearing on Tuesday for Atef Najib, another cousin of Bashar al-Assad and former head of the Political Security branch in Daraa, with the closed session focused entirely on witness testimony and attended by international observers and human rights groups, The Syrian Observer reported.
Accountability stakes
Rights advocates and lawyers framed the arrest as part of a broader accountability drive, with The Media Line reporting that Syrian lawyer Louay al-Hassani said the arrest represented “the beginning of the judicial process, not its conclusion.”
“LONDON: Syrian authorities arrested Ahmad Habib Ali, a former colonel in the Bashar Assad regime, for his involvement in sarin gas attacks between 2013 and 2017 during the country’s civil war”
The Media Line also reported that Fadel Abdulghany, executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, called the arrest “an important and positive step toward accountability” but warned that one prosecution alone would not constitute justice.
The Syrian Observer said the proceedings formed part of a broader campaign by Syria’s new leadership to pursue former officials, officers and security personnel accused of crimes during the conflict, with the Interior Ministry saying recent arrests stem from intelligence-led operations targeting suspects hiding in both urban centres and rural areas.
The Syrian Observer added that human rights organisations and victims’ associations urged authorities to ensure fair, transparent trials and to establish specialised judicial mechanisms capable of handling serious crimes and complex case files, warning that delays in creating a comprehensive transitional justice framework risk deepening social fractures and undermining prospects for long-term stability and civil peace.
