US killing of top Iran’ general ‘unlawful’: UN expert

The US drone strike that killed Iran's top general Qasem Soleimani was "unlawful", the United Nations expert on extrajudicial killings concluded in a report released yesterday. Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, concluded it was an "arbitrary killing" that violated the UN charter. The US had provided no evidence that an imminent attack against US interest was being planned, she wrote.  The independent rights expert does not speak for the United Nations but reports her findings to it. US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani in a January 3 drone strike near Baghdad international airport. Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the drone strike.