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News ID: 76666
Publish Date : 29 February 2020 - 01:06
Leftist Lawmakers Sue Merkel Government

Germany Had a Role in Gen. Soleimani Assassination

BERLIN (Dispatches) -- Eight German lawmakers from the country’s Left Party have filed a criminal complaint against German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government for complicity in U.S. assassination of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani.
The complaint claims that the U.S. Air force’s Ramstein base in western Germany, believed to be used to control drones over Africa and the Middle East, was part of the operation that led to the general’s assassination.
"The control signals for the drone attack can only have been transmitted via a satellite relay station on German territory, the U.S. airbase in Ramstein,” MP Alexander Neu said in a statement.
"We cannot continue to accept that the federal government itself breaks international law by enabling and supporting the illegal U.S. drone war,” Neu added.
The Left Party accused the Merkel government of "abetting” the U.S. operation by its "negligence” on the matter.
A copy of the complaint posted on the website of Neu specifically targets Merkel along with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and "other members of the federal government”.
In the early hours of January 3, General Soleimani was assassinated by a U.S. drone strike shortly after arriving at Baghdad International Airport on a formal visit to the country.
Washington’s unprovoked and illegal targeting of the senior Iranian official, who was also the Middle East’s most popular anti-terror commander, greatly

 heightened tensions, bringing the region to the brink of war.
The assassination also drew the condemnation of leaders across the region and beyond. Numerous major rallies commemorating General Soleimani were also held worldwide.
On January 8, Iran officially responded to the U.S. assassination by firing a volley of ballistic missiles at the U.S.-occupied Ain al-Assad base in Iraq and another outpost in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.
Despite initial U.S. claim that the attack resulted in no casualties, the Trump administration has since gradually announced injuries from the Iranian retaliatory attack, most recently saying that 110 U.S. troops have suffered from "traumatic brain injuries”.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on Friday before a committee of Congress probing whether the Trump administration had adequate justification for the assassination.
It was the first time the top U.S. diplomat has faced questions publicly from legislators about the assassination.  
President Donald Trump and top administration officials have given shifting explanations for the January 3 drone attack that martyred Gen. Soleimani and others in his convoy at the airport in Baghdad, Iraq.
Iraq’s former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi had told parliament that he was scheduled to meet with Gen. Soleimani on the morning the Iranian general was assassinated and that the top commander was carrying the Iranian response to an Iraqi diplomatic initiative to foster talks between Riyadh and Tehran.
Initially, Trump, Pompeo and others said Gen. Soleimani was an "imminent threat” to American interests in Iraq. But administration officials walked back from that justification, saying they did not know "when or where” any attacks would take place.
In closed-door briefings to U.S. legislators, Trump officials were unable to provide evidence of an imminent threat, Democrats and some Republicans said.
Earlier this month, the Senate passed a War Powers Resolution aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to wage war against Iran. Although the measure is expected to be passed in the House, it faces a likely veto by the president.
On Thursday, an official submitted a petition of the Iranian people against the U.S. over the assassination to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.
The petition signed by thousands of demonstrators in Tehran during a February 11 rally marking the anniversary of victory of the Islamic Revolution was submitted by head of the Iranian Judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights Ali Baqeri Kani.
The petition strongly condemns the criminal assassination, demanding that international organizations bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
Bachelet said she has condemned the assassination, adding she would convey the request to the United Nations Secretary General.
She also decried the "inhumane and unacceptable” sanctions against Iran, saying the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is the only United Nations institution that has adopted stances against the sanctions in its report.”