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Lebanon on Wednesday extradited a former Syrian military officer under ousted President Bashar Assad, who will be put on trial to be held to account for crimes committed against the Syrian people during Assad’s 14-year-long civil war, the Interior Ministry said.
Major General Adel Issa is the first military officer to be turned over by Lebanon since Assad’s fall in December 2024. Beirut decided on Tuesday to deliver Issa to Syria, after questioning him over crimes he allegedly committed during Assad’s 24-year reign as president.
Syria’s Interior Ministry said it had asked authorities in Lebanon to hand over Issa to Syria over alleged crimes including intentional killing of more than two people, torture resulting in death, and acts of aggression aimed at inciting civil war and sectarian strife.
The ministry added that Issa was the commander of the Syrian army’s 17th Division and the commander of ground forces in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour until 2016. The ministry posted a photo of Issa wearing a prison uniform.
Officials in Beirut said on Tuesday that Issa was turned over to Syria in accordance with a 1951 agreement between the countries that calls for delivering suspected criminals to face justice.
After Syrian fighters opposed to Assad marched into Damascus to end the Assad family’s five-decade rule in December 2024, a number of military and security officers fled to Lebanon, where some remain.
Dozens of other former members of his security agencies accused of atrocities have been arrested and put on trial in Syria.
Last week, a Syrian court sentenced Assad and his younger brother Maher to death in absentia while their maternal cousin, Brigadier General Atef Najib, became the most senior former security official to be sentenced to death while in custody.
The Assad brothers fled to Russia during a surprise 11-day rebellion in late 2024.
Issa was detained on 8 August when he went to the Syrian Embassy in Beirut for some paperwork. Embassy officials contacted Lebanon’s prosecutor’s office to tell them that Issa was wanted in Syria. Issa had fled to Lebanon by crossing illegally after Assad’s fall.
Syria’s conflict, which began with anti-government protests in March 2011 before turning into a civil war, left by conservative estimates at least 500,000 people dead and over 1 million wounded.
Additional sources • AP