France's highest court Friday, July 25, annulled a French arrest warrant against Syria's ex-president Bashar al-Assad over deadly 2013 chemical attacks issued before his ouster. The Court of Cassation ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But its presiding judge, Christophe Soulard, added that, as Assad was now no longer president after an Islamist-led group toppled him in December, "new arrest warrants could have been, or can be, issued against him" and as such the investigation into the case could continue.

This is a developping story.

Le Monde with AFP