Syrian Observatory: Israeli Forces Kidnap Baath Party Commander

A circulated photo of Mutaa Al-Sarhan, a leader in the Syrian Baath Party, in Quneitra
A circulated photo of Mutaa Al-Sarhan, a leader in the Syrian Baath Party, in Quneitra
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Syrian Observatory: Israeli Forces Kidnap Baath Party Commander

A circulated photo of Mutaa Al-Sarhan, a leader in the Syrian Baath Party, in Quneitra
A circulated photo of Mutaa Al-Sarhan, a leader in the Syrian Baath Party, in Quneitra

Israeli forces kidnapped a commander in Al-Baath Party and a member of the Reconciliation Committee from his house in Al-Rafeed village in Qunaitra’s countryside, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation announced that the military has detained a suspect accused of crossing the border from Syria into Israel. The suspect was being interrogated.

The residents of the village accused Israeli forces of crossing the border to kidnap Mutaa Al-Sarhan.

There is no confirmed information about the reasons behind his kidnapping.

Regime forces are prevented from approaching the border area because it is considered a ceasefire agreement zone between the Israeli and Syrian sides.

The report comes one day after an attack - attributed to Israel - on a building in Kafr Sousa in Damascus, targeting Iranian leaders.

The Israeli airstrike hit the residential building on Wednesday, killing two people, Syrian state media and a security source said.

The neighborhood hosts residential buildings, schools and Iranian cultural centers, and lies near a large, heavily-guarded complex used by security agencies.



Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday Lebanon will cooperate with an Interpol request to arrest former Syrian intelligence officer Jamil Hassan, accused by US authorities of war crimes under the toppled Assad government.

Last week, Lebanon received an official notice from Interpol urging judicial and security authorities to detain Hassan, whose whereabouts remain unclear, if he is found on Lebanese soil, three Lebanese judicial sources told Reuters.

"We are committed to cooperating with the Interpol letter regarding the arrest of the Director of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, as we continue to cooperate on all matters related to the international system," Mikati told Reuters.

The directive also called for Hassan's arrest if he enters Lebanon, with the ultimate aim of extraditing him to the United States, the sources said.

On Dec. 9, a US indictment unsealed charges against Hassan, 72, with war crimes, including the torture of detainees, some of them US citizens, during the Syrian civil war.

Hassan is also one of three senior Syrian officials who were found guilty by a French court in May of war crimes over their involvement in the disappearance and subsequent death of a French-Syrian father and his son.

According to Lebanese judicial sources, the Interpol arrest warrant accuses Hassan of involvement in "crimes of murder, torture, and genocide."

Hassan is also allegedly responsible for overseeing the deployment of thousands of barrel bombs against the Syrian population, leading to the deaths of countless civilians, the sources said.

The Interpol request was circulated among Lebanon’s General Security and border control authorities.

Up to 30 lower-ranking former intelligence and Fourth Division army officers under the Assad administration are now in police custody in Lebanon following their arrest by Lebanese authorities, two security sources told Reuters.