2 Syrians charged with terrorism over army officer’s killing

BERLIN – Two Syrians have been charged in Germany for alleged links to a terrorist organization on suspicion they were involved in the killing of an army officer in their homeland in 2012, prosecutors said Monday.

Khedr A.K. was charged with membership in a terrorist organization while Sami A.S. was charged with supporting a terrorist organization on allegations they were acting on behalf of the Nusra Front, as al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria was known at the time of the alleged offences.

Neither of their last names were given in line with German privacy laws.

The two were arrested last summer in Naumburg, in eastern Germany, and in the western city of Essen.

The pair are suspected of taking part in the killing of a captured lieutenant colonel of the Syrian government forces in July 2012, prosecutors said. They said that Khedr A.K. guarded the man as he was brought to the execution site. Sami A.S. is suspected of filming the officer’s shooting and preparing the footage for use as propaganda.

It was not immediately clear when the two came to Germany.