(AP) Five former Austrian officials went on trial in Vienna on Friday accused of granting asylum to a suspected Syrian war criminal in Austria at the request of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
The five are accused of abusing their positions by bringing Khaled Halabi, a former Syrian general, to Austria in 2015 and arranging asylum for him. Four are former intelligence officials and one is a former asylum agency official.
Halabi led the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate in Raqqa from 2009-2013. When rebel forces captured Raqqa in 2013, Halabi fled to France, initially applying for asylum there.
International human rights groups have documented torture in Syrian facilities under Syrian President Bashar Assad, and allege that Halabi bears some responsibility.
