Austrians tried for allegedly helping Mossad shield Syrian

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN
Associated Press
VIENNA (AP) — A trial has opened in Vienna of five former Austrian officials who are accused of harbouring and protecting a suspected Syrian war criminal in Austria at the request of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Four are former intelligence agents and one is a former immigration official. The five are accused of “abuse of office” for bringing Khaled Halabi, a former Syrian general, to Austria in 2015 and granting him asylum despite the lack of a legal basis for doing so. The five men deny the charges. Austrian authorities have also initiated a criminal procedure against Halabi but have not indicted him.