Assad regime likely to face war crime charges

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime could face war crimes charges in international court, after top war crime prosecutors claimed to have direct evidence of "systematic torture and killing" of about 11,000 detainees by his forces.

Lawyers acting for the Arab state of Qatar released a report, which includes thousands of photographs of the dead bodies of detainees allegedly killed in government custody, many of whom severely malnourished and showing signs of strangulation, the Independent reports.

According to the report, the evidence came from a military policeman, who worked secretly with a Syrian opposition group and later defected and fled the country.

The revelation came just few hours after President Assad said he had no intention of quitting Syria and the issue was not up for discussion in Geneva.

Meanwhile, the allegations coincided with the Geneva II talks and is thought to be more detailed than anything yet to emerge from the 34-month civil war crisis, the report added.