The spouse and daughter of certainly one of deposed Syrian president Bashar Assad ‘s cousins have been arrested Friday on the Beirut airport, the place they tried to fly out with allegedly solid passports, Lebanese judicial and safety officers mentioned. Assad’s uncle departed the day earlier than.
Rasha Khazem, the spouse of Duraid Assad — the son of former Syrian vice-president Rifaat Assad, the uncle of Bashar Assad — and their daughter, Shams, have been smuggled illegally into Lebanon and have been making an attempt to fly to Egypt after they have been arrested, in response to 5 Lebanese officers conversant in the case. They have been being detained by Lebanese Common Safety. Rifaat had flown out the day earlier than on his actual passport and was not stopped, the officers mentioned.
The officers spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to debate the case publicly.
Swiss federal prosecutors in March indicted Rifaat on expenses of warfare crimes and crimes towards humanity for allegedly ordering homicide and torture greater than 4 a long time in the past.
Rifaat Assad, the brother of Bashar Assad’s father Hafez Assad, Syria’s former ruler, led the artillery unit that shelled town of Hama and killed hundreds, incomes him the nickname the “Butcher of Hama.”
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Earlier this yr, Rifaat Assad was indicted in Switzerland for warfare crimes and crimes towards humanity in reference to Hama.
Tens of hundreds of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally on the night time of Assad’s fall earlier this month, when rebel forces entered Damascus.
The Lebanese safety and judicial officers mentioned that greater than 20 members of the previous Syrian Military’s infamous 4th Division, navy intelligence officers and others affiliated with Assad’s safety forces have been arrested earlier in Lebanon. A few of them have been arrested after they tried to promote their weapons.
Lebanon’s public prosecution workplace additionally acquired an Interpol discover requesting the arrest of Jamil al-Hassan, the previous director of Syrian intelligence below Assad. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati beforehand instructed Reuters that Lebanon would co-operate with the Interpol request to arrest al-Hassan.
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