His arrest and imprisonment in France at the end of December had gone relatively unnoticed, his identity not having been communicated by the prosecution. But, according to a source familiar with the matter, it is Salah Habib, a 59-year-old Franco-Syrian. The case is unprecedented.
The man was indicted for “conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity, complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes”, then placed in pre-trial detention. He is accused of having supplied equipment to the Syrian army, including components that could be used to manufacture chemical weapons. This is the first time that an indictment has taken place in an investigation in France into suspicions of support for the Syrian army and the Center for Scientific Studies and Research, the mastermind of the Syrian clandestine chemical program.
Salah Habib is far from unknown to the French authorities, according to our information. Born in 1962 and married to a French woman, he owns a house in Aix-en-Provence. It was while coming to spend the end-of-year holidays there that he was arrested.
The investigations in France began when he was placed in 2016 – along with the shipping company he runs, Yona Star – on the financial sanctions blacklist drawn up by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a dependent body. of the US Treasury. The company was suspected of transiting goods to Damascus, in violation of the international embargo.
Used to circumvent sanctions
“Yona Star has long acted as a maritime agent for the Syrian Air Force, as well as other government entities, including the Center for Scientific Studies and Research, the intelligence services of the Air Force and Army Supply Office,” points out the US Treasury.
Salah Habib is accused of being part of the circle of businessmen that the regime uses to circumvent sanctions. A type of sought-after profile, who is asked to settle abroad, to subcontract the smuggling of oil and weapons. In this regard, Salah Habib’s dual nationality could only be seen as an asset. If only to open bank accounts.
Intermediary companies like Yona Star, established in particular in the United Arab Emirates or Lebanon, play on the opacity that can reign there in commercial and legal matters. They import sensitive materials with the help of “end user certificates” which include a commitment of non-retransfer, non-export or non-re-export. Salah Habib, whose company was registered in the United Arab Emirates, would have officially imported materials into the Gulf country but would have sent them to Damascus. At the French request, the Emirati authorities had finally cracked down and had invited him to leave their territory.
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