Lebanon to extradite Syrian Assad-era general

Lebanon's judiciary decided on Tuesday to extradite a former Syrian general it detained this month following a warrant from Damascus accusing him of "killing and crimes against humanity", a judicial official said.

The official, requesting anonymity, told AFP that Lebanon's public prosecutor "decided to extradite former Syrian General Adel Issa, currently detained in Lebanon, to Syrian authorities to stand trial for crimes he is accused of committing on Syrian soil" during the rule of former president Bashar al-Assad, ousted in late 2024.

The official added that the extradition decision, made under a 1951 judicial agreement between Beirut and Damascus, was based on "legal requirements, documents, and the case file received by Lebanon from Syrian authorities" and that judicial and legal requirements for extradition were met.

The file "contains evidence indicating that Issa committed crimes on Syrian territory", the official said, stating that "prosecuting him for these crimes falls under the jurisdiction of the Syrian judiciary".

Issa will therefore be transferred to Lebanon's General Security before being taken to the border with Syria, where he will be handed over to a Syrian security committee, the official said.

Issa, a 67-year-old former general in the Syrian army's 17th brigade under Assad, headed to his country's embassy in Beirut for paperwork earlier this month, another judicial official told AFP at the time.

When staff learned of an arrest warrant from Damascus filed in absentia for the "crimes of killing and crimes against humanity during his time with the Syrian army", they called on Lebanese authorities to detain him.

Since Assad's fall in December 2024, Syrian authorities have arrested dozens of people they say committed crimes during the country's 13-year civil war, and trials began in April.

Lebanon and Syria have expressed their determination to open a new chapter in their relations since Assad's ousting and the weakening of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a key Assad ally.

Under the Assad family, Syria exercised tutelage over its neighbor for decades, and was accused of carrying out numerous assassinations there.

Since 2024, officials from the two countries have met on several occasions, agreeing to cooperate on a number of issues including security.