UN official seeks to convict Assad of war crimes

NEW YORK - 14 August 2017: The UN Commission on Inquiry on Syria said it has enough evidence for convicting Syrian President Bashar al Assad of war crimes.

Prominent member of the commission Carla del Ponte said in remarks published on Sunday she was planning to step down from her post in frustration at the UN Security Council's failure to continue the commission's work by setting up a special tribunal for Syria that could try alleged war criminals.

Del Ponte, 70, had prosecuted war crimes in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia.

For its part, the Syrian government denied committing war crimes by the army or police.