Syrian Journalist Disappears after Getting Summoned by Cybercrime Police in Damascus

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian flag flutters in Damascus, Syria April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian flag flutters in Damascus, Syria April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
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Syrian Journalist Disappears after Getting Summoned by Cybercrime Police in Damascus

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian flag flutters in Damascus, Syria April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian flag flutters in Damascus, Syria April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

“By the time you read this post I would have been detained,” wrote Syrian journalist Kenan Waqaf on his Facebook account on Saturday, 48 hours after being summoned by cybercrime police in Damascus.

Waqaf was arrested in September 2020 for his reporting on corruption in the Tartous Electricity Company, which was involved in shady photoelectric station deals with an influential businessman.

Press sources close to Waqaf said he went missing after heading to the cybercrime police department building near the Umayyin Square in Damascus.

“His friends tried finding him, but his phone was not reachable,” the sources explained.

On February 26, Waqaf published a report exposing a scandal linked to a district governor in Tartous.

Waqaf reported on how the governor and his son, who he kept anonymous, were implicated in kidnapping a volunteer soldier called Jaafar Hassan.

The governor’s son, however, was cited as claiming that Hassan, along with a group of his relatives, were behind a robbery that targeted the governor’s family manor.

Hassan’s father tried to take the governor to court for kidnapping his son but was ignored by authorities.

The governor and his son were demanding a payment of 200 million Syrian pounds, a sum they claimed equals the worth of the items allegedly stolen from the manor, to release Hassan.

It remains unclear if Waqaf’s reporting on the matter is connected to him being summoned by authorities.

Waqaf’s arrest in September spurred nationwide controversy after the Information Ministry got involved directly in his case.

Information Minister Imad Sarah stepped in to ensure Waqaf’s release after his detention having triggered unwanted reactions in Damascus.

“No journalist will be detained before the Information Ministry first being told the reasons behind the arrest,” Sarah promised.

It is worth noting that Waqaf reports for the local "Al-Wehda" newspaper in the Latakia governorate.



Lebanese Red Cross Will Try Again to Remove Bodies from Israeli Strike Site

A picture taken from the area of Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon shows explosions over buildings in the town of Khiam, during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A picture taken from the area of Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon shows explosions over buildings in the town of Khiam, during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Lebanese Red Cross Will Try Again to Remove Bodies from Israeli Strike Site

A picture taken from the area of Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon shows explosions over buildings in the town of Khiam, during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A picture taken from the area of Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon shows explosions over buildings in the town of Khiam, during Israeli bombardment on October 31, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The Lebanese Red Cross will send another convoy Tuesday to Wata al-Khiam in southern Lebanon to search for and remove the bodies of 15 people killed in an Israeli airstrike, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

Paramedics accessed the site of the strike two days prior and removed five other bodies, but needed to return with larger vehicles to remove the rubble.

The NNA said the deployment is in coordination with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, which is the usual procedure.

The Red Cross did not immediately comment on the news, but expressed concern in recent weeks over several instances where Israel has struck in or close to areas where they have deployed paramedics to search for wounded people and casualties.

The Israeli military said it issued warnings to the residents there in late October to evacuate ahead of strikes on Hezbollah militant targets, and told ambulances to avoid the area.