New boss, old methods: kidnapping scandal at the Syrian embassy in Lebanon exposed

A political and legal storm is shaking Lebanon following the exposure of the arrest of a senior retired Syrian officer, Adel Muhammad Issa, inside the Syrian embassy in Beirut. According to a report in the Lebanese newspaper "Al-Akhbar," which is affiliated with Hezbollah, the case is reigniting fears in Lebanon of the return of Syrian involvement and "supervision" over the country, this time under the auspices of the new Syrian regime. Hezbollah and the Syrian government of Ahmad al-Sharaa are considered rivals.

According to the report in "Al-Akhbar," Issa, who served as a general in the Syrian army before the fall of the Bashar Assad regime, entered the Syrian embassy in Beirut last Friday to arrange a legal power of attorney for a family member. However, he was detained on the spot, and according to suspicions, the embassy staff planned to transfer him secretly and without legal process to Damascus. The newspaper claims that the exposure of the case in the media thwarted the plan, but led to an equally serious move by the local authorities.

The newspaper sharply accuses the Prosecutor General of Lebanon, Judge Ahmad Rami al-Hajj, of cooperation and subservience to Damascus, Riyadh, and Ramallah. According to the allegations, the authorities in Lebanon mobilized to cover up the diplomatic scandal and keep the Syrian embassy out of the spotlight. Al-Hajj apparently issued an arrest warrant for Issa retroactively and even approved forged arrest documents. The fabricated documents stated that a Lebanese police force arrested Issa outside the embassy on suspicion of involvement in terrorism; however, the newspaper states that the authorities in Lebanon were not aware of his situation at all, and that the officer was never wanted in Lebanon or Syria before the incident.

This case is not isolated. Just recently, as noted in the report, Lebanon secretly extradited another Syrian citizen named Hussein al-Ahmad to the new Syrian authorities. His extradition was carried out, according to the newspaper, only because he insulted the al-Sharaa regime, which now rules in Damascus.

In "Al-Akhbar," they harshly criticize the silence of the Lebanese Minister of Justice, foreign embassies, and human rights organizations. The authors of the article cynically claim that those who previously condemned the "Syrian occupation" find no fault today in the return of the exact same patronage. According to them, the standard of human rights has changed along with the change of government in Syria, and Beirut has become an acceptable platform for hunting regime opponents, as long as the new boss in Damascus receives the approval of Western powers and Saudi Arabia.