Sweden eyes charges against man over 2014 killing of Jordan pilot in Syria

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish prosecutors have requested the detention of a Swedish man on suspicion of war and terrorism crimes over the killing of a Jordanian air force pilot in Syria a decade ago, they said on Monday.

The man, named in Swedish court documents as Osama Krayem, has previously been convicted for involvement in attacks in Paris in 2015 and in Brussels in 2016.

The Islamic State militant group, which once imposed a reign of terror over millions of people in Syria and Iraq, captured Jordanian pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh in December 2014 and later published a video of him being burned alive in a cage.

"The man now requested for detention is suspected of having executed the pilot, together with other perpetrators belonging to IS," the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement.

The prosecutors said Krayem, 32, alongside others, forced the pilot into the cage. The killing of the pilot violates the laws of war, and the killing and video constitute terrorist activities, they said.

No individuals have so far stood trial for the killing of the Jordanian pilot, the prosecutors said.

Krayem's Swedish lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sweden will request that Krayem, who is currently held in France, be transferred to Sweden in the case of a trial in the Nordic country, the prosecutors said.

Islamic State controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2017, and was defeated in its last bastions in Syria in 2019.

Under Swedish legislation, courts can try people for crimes against international law committed abroad.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik and Bernadette Baum)