The wife and daughter of one of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad's cousins were arrested Friday at Beirut airport, from where they tried to fly with allegedly forged passports, Lebanese security and judicial officials said. Assad's uncle left the day before.
Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid Assad – son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, Bashar Assad's uncle – and their daughter, Shams, were smuggled into Lebanon and were attempting to fly to Egypt when they were arrested, according to five Lebanese officials familiar with the matter. case. They were detained by the Lebanese General Security. Rifaat had flown in the previous day with his real passport and was not detained, the officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
In March, Swiss federal prosecutors charged Rifaat with war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering murders and torture more than four decades ago.
Rifaat Assad, brother of Bashar Assad's father Hafez Assad, former ruler of Syria, led the artillery unit that bombarded the city of Hama, killing thousands of people, 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 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, as insurgent forces entered Damascus.
Lebanese security and judicial officials said more than 20 members of the former Syrian army's notorious 4th Division, military intelligence officers and others affiliated with Assad's security forces were previously arrested in Lebanon. Some of them were arrested when they tried to sell their weapons.
Lebanon's prosecutor's office also received a notice from Interpol requesting the arrest of Jamil al-Hassan, former director of Syrian intelligence during the Assad government. Lebanon's interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati previously said Reuters that Lebanon would cooperate with Interpol's request to arrest al-Hassan.
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