Political assassinations

FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. An Arizona man seen in photos and video of the mob wearing a fur hat with horns was also charged Saturday in Wednesday's chaos. Jacob Anthony Chansley, who also goes by the name Jake Angeli, was taken into custody Saturday, Jan. 9. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Feds back away from claim of assassination plot at Capitol

Jan. 15, 2021 6:59 PM EST

PHOENIX (AP) — Federal prosecutors who initially said there was “strong evidence” the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week aimed to “capture and assassinate elected officials” backed away from the allegation after the head of the investigation cautioned Friday...

Congo releases man convicted of role in Kabila assassination

Jan. 8, 2021 10:51 AM EST

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congolese authorities on Friday released Eddy Kapend, a man once sentenced to death for his role in the assassination of President Laurent Kabila nearly two decades ago. Kapend left the central prison of Makala after a ceremony presided over by Justice Minister Bernard Takaishe...

Supporters of the Popular Mobilization Forces hold a poster of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, front, and General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's Quds force during a protest, in Tahrir Square, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. Thousands of Iraqis converged on a landmark central square in Baghdad on Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of Soleimanil and al-Muhandis in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Khalid Moha

Rally in Baghdad marks 1 year since Iran general's killing

Jan. 3, 2021 11:57 AM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Chanting anti-American slogans, thousands of Iraqis converged on a landmark square in central Baghdad on Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of a powerful Iranian general and a top Iraqi militia leader in a U.S. drone strike. Roads leading to Tahrir Square were closed off...

Presiding judge David Re, right, and judge Janet Nosworthy, left, pose for pictures prior to a session of the United Nations-backed Lebanon Tribunal where it is scheduled to hand down it's sentencing on Salim Jamil Ayyash, a member of the Hezbollah militant group who was convicted of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others 15 years ago, in Leidschendam, Netherlands, Friday Dec. 11, 2020. Ayyash is not in custody and is unlikely to serve any sentence. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

Hezbollah member sentenced to life in Hariri assassination

Dec. 11, 2020 6:29 AM EST

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A U.N.-backed tribunal sentenced a member of the Hezbollah militant group to life imprisonment Friday for his involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The defendant, Salim Ayyash, has never been arrested and was not in court at...

A group of protesters burn pictures of the U.S. President Donald Trump, top, and the President-elect Joe Biden in a gathering in front of Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020, a day after the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh an Iranian scientist linked to the country's nuclear program by unknown assailants near Tehran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran's supreme leader vows revenge over slain scientist

Nov. 28, 2020 4:45 PM EST

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's supreme leader on Saturday demanded the “definitive punishment” of those behind the killing of a scientist who led Tehran's disbanded military nuclear program, as the Islamic Republic blamed Israel for a slaying that has raised fears of reignited tensions across the...

This photo released by the semi-official Fars News Agency shows the scene where Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in Absard, a small city just east of the capital, Tehran, Iran, Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian scientist that Israel alleged led the Islamic Republic's military nuclear program until its disbanding in the early 2000s was “assassinated” Friday, state television said. (Fars News Agency via AP)

Iran scientist linked to military nuclear program killed

Nov. 27, 2020 11:00 PM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic's disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday in an ambush on the outskirts of Tehran, authorities said. Iran's foreign minister alleged the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh bore...

Witnesses testify against Russian accused of Berlin killing

Nov. 24, 2020 8:50 AM EST

BERLIN (AP) — A court in Berlin heard Tuesday how witnesses alerted police after seeing a man dump a wig, clothes and a bicycle in a river last year, allowing officers to swiftly arrest the suspect in an alleged Russia-ordered political assassination. Testimony by the two men is central to the trial of the...