Lebanese judicial and security officials said that the wife and daughter of one of the cousins of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were arrested today, Friday, at Beirut airport, where they attempted to travel with forged passports. Assad’s uncle passed away the day before.
Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid al-Assad – the son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of Bashar al-Assad – and their daughter Shams, were illegally smuggled into Lebanon and were trying to fly to Egypt when they were arrested, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. To five Lebanese officials familiar with the case. They were detained by Lebanese General Security. Officials said that Rifaat had gone out the previous day on his real passport and had not been stopped.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
Last March, Swiss federal prosecutors charged Rifaat with war crimes and crimes against humanity, alleging that he ordered murder and torture more than four decades ago.
Rifaat al-Assad, brother of Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, the former ruler of Syria, led the artillery unit that bombed the city of Hama and killed thousands, earning him the nickname “The Butcher of Hama.”
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Earlier this year, Rifaat al-Assad was charged in Switzerland with war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to Hama.
Tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally on the night of Assad’s fall earlier this month, when rebel forces entered Damascus.
Lebanese security and judicial officials said that more than 20 members of the former Syrian army’s notorious Fourth Division, military intelligence officers and others linked to Assad’s security forces had been arrested earlier in Lebanon. Some of them were arrested when they tried to sell their weapons.
The Lebanese Public Prosecutor’s Office also received a notice from Interpol requesting the arrest of Jamil al-Hassan, the former director of Syrian intelligence under Assad. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had stated earlier Reuters Lebanon will cooperate with Interpol’s request to arrest Al-Hassan.
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