Wife and daughter of deposed Syrian president Bashar Assad His cousins were arrested Friday at Beirut airport, where they allegedly tried to leave with fake passports, Lebanese judicial and security officials said. Asad's uncle left a day ago.
Rasha Khazeem, wife of Doreed Assad, son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, uncle of Bashar al-Assad, and their daughter Shams, were illegally trafficked to Lebanon and tried to go to Egypt when they were arrested. had been to five Lebanese officials familiar with the case; He was detained by the Lebanese General Security. Officials said Rafaat had left the day before on his original passport and was not stopped.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
Swiss federal prosecutors indicted Rifat in March on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering killings and torture more than four decades ago.
Rifat al-Assad, the brother of Hafez al-Assad, the father of former Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, led an artillery unit that shelled the city of Hama and killed thousands, earning him the nickname “The Butcher of Hama.”
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Earlier this year, Rafat Assad was indicted in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Hama.
Tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally when rebel forces entered Damascus on the night of Assad's fall earlier this month.
More than 20 members of the Syrian army's notorious Fourth Division, military intelligence officers and others linked to Assad's security forces were previously arrested in Lebanon, Lebanese security and judicial officials said. Some of them were arrested when they tried to sell their weapons.
Lebanon's Public Prosecution Office also received an Interpol notice requesting the arrest of Jamil al-Hassan, the former director of Syrian intelligence under Assad. Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Meqati, said earlier. Reuters that Lebanon will cooperate with Interpol's request for al-Hassan's arrest;
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