War on the law

Trump's aggression branded an illegal act

- JEREMY ARMSTRONG

DEPOSED President Nicolas Maduro was behind bars in New York yesterday, amid a political storm brewing over the US strikes on his fortress home in Venezuela.

Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn after being snatched away from Caracas by US special forces.

They face a host of charges, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, importing cocaine and hoarding weapons to use against the US.

However, Maduro, 63 widely seen as a brutal dictator by the international community has vehemently denied being a cartel boss.

He has accused Donald Trump of using his "war on drugs" as an excuse to try to remove him and get his hands on Venezuela's oil.

An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council is due to take place today.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres says the rules of international law had not been respected and he is "deeply concerned", according to a spokesman.

Geoffrey Robertson KC, a former president of the UN war crimes court in Sierra Leone, said: "America is in breach of the United Nations charter.

"It has committed the crime of aggression, which the court at Nuremberg described as the supreme crime, it's the worst crime of all."

Keir Starmer said the UK has accepted the transitional government - despite questions over the legality of Mr Trump's move.

The British PM has so far refused to be drawn on whether he thinks the US actions broke international law.