ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan meets Syria's new leader

Sharaa and Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met "a delegation from the International Criminal Court, headed" by Khan, state news agency SANA reported, also publishing images of the meeting.

A statement from Khan's office said he "travelled to Damascus at the invitation of the Syrian Transitional Government".

It said the visit aimed to discuss how the office "can offer its partnership in support of the efforts of Syrian authorities towards accountability for alleged crimes committed in the country".

Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham led the rebel alliance that toppled Assad on December 8, more than 13 years after the brutal repression of anti-government protests triggered a war that would kill more than 500,000 people.

Tens of thousands of people were detained and tortured in the country's jails, while Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons, including the banned sarin gas, against his own people.

"The Prosecutor was grateful for the open and constructive discussions during his visit, during which follow-up actions were put in place," the statement from Khan's office said.
'Transitional justice'
The new authorities have pledged justice for victims of atrocities committed under Assad's rule, vowing that officials involved in torturing detainees will not be pardoned and urging countries to "hand over any of those criminals who may have fled so they can be brought to justice".

The Hague-based ICC, which investigates war crimes, had been unable to investigate Syria because Damascus never ratified the Rome Statute, the tribunal's founding treaty.

With Assad gone, there could now be a national accountability process in Syria and steps could be taken to finally grant the ICC jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed in the country.

During a visit to Damascus on Wednesday, UN rights chief Volker Turk said transitional justice was "crucial" for Syria after Assad's fall, during the first-ever visit by someone in his post to the country.

Last month, Turk said he would "strongly encourage" the new Syrian authorities to ratify the ICC statute, stressing the need to "build up a domestic legal system that allows for fair trials".

Also in December, the visiting head of a UN investigative body for Syria said it was possible to find "more than enough" evidence to convict people of violating international law.
Evidence
But preserving evidence would "need a lot of coordination between all the different actors", said Robert Petit, who heads the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) set up by the UN in 2016 to prepare prosecutions for major international crimes in Syria.

With families rushing to former prisons, detention centres and alleged mass graves to find any trace of disappeared relatives, many have expressed concern about safeguarding documents and other evidence.

A UN investigator this month expressed hope of a "good relationship" with Syria's new rulers as he wrapped up a first visit by his inquiry team, which was barred by Assad.

Hanny Megally, of the UN Syria Commission of Inquiry, expressed optimism that "we have an interlocutor we can work with".

The commission has been gathering evidence of crimes committed in Syria since the early days of the conflict.

Repeated calls over the years for the situation in war-torn Syria to be referred to the ICC fell on deaf ears as the UN Security Council remained deadlocked.

In 2014, Damascus allies Beijing and Moscow blocked a draft Security Council resolution on referring Syria to the ICC.