The wife and daughter of one of the deposed Syrian presidents Bashar al-Assad The Lebanese cousins were arrested Friday at Beirut airport where they tried to fly out on what they said were fake passports, Lebanese justice and security officials said. Assad’s uncle left the day before.
Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid Assad – the son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, the uncle of Bashar Assad – and her daughter Shams were illegally smuggled into Lebanon and attempting to fly to Egypt when they were arrested by five Lebanese officials , who are familiar with the case. They were arrested by the Lebanese General Security Service. Rifaat had flown out the day before with his real passport and was not stopped, the officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
Swiss federal prosecutors charged Rifaat with war crimes and crimes against humanity in March for allegedly ordering murder and torture more than four decades ago.
Rifaat Assad, the brother of Bashar Assad’s father Hafez Assad, the former ruler of Syria, led the artillery unit that shelled the city of Hama, killing thousands, earning him the nickname “Butcher of Hama.”
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Earlier this year, Rifaat Assad was charged in Switzerland with war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Hama.
Tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally on the night of Assad’s fall earlier this month as insurgents entered Damascus.
Lebanese security and justice officials said more than 20 members of the former Syrian army’s notorious 4th Division, military intelligence officers and others linked to Assad’s security forces had previously been arrested in Lebanon. Some of them were arrested while trying to sell their weapons.
Lebanese prosecutors also received a notice from Interpol calling for the arrest of Jamil al-Hassan, the former director of Syria’s intelligence service under Assad. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said this earlier Reuters that Lebanon would comply with Interpol’s request to arrest al-Hassan.
&Copy 2024 The Canadian Press
