Lebanon hands over 70 fugitives to Syria, including Assad regime officers

Reuters quoted two Lebanese security officials yesterday, Friday, as saying that Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of the ousted Syrian president, fled from the Lebanese capital Beirut to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates during the past few days.

The two officials said that many members of the Assad family left Beirut for Dubai, while others remained in Lebanon.

The Associated Press quoted informed sources as saying that Rasha Khazim, the wife of Duraid al-Assad - Rifaat al-Assad's son - and their daughter Shams were arrested at Beirut airport yesterday, Friday, while they were trying to travel to Egypt using forged passports.

The same sources indicated that the two are being held by the Lebanese General Security, without any details about their fate.

Officials said Rifaat al-Assad had traveled the previous day on his real passport and was not stopped.

It is noteworthy that Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, the former Syrian president, had led the artillery unit that bombarded the city of Hama in the 1980s, killing thousands, which earned him the nickname "The Butcher of Hama."

Source: Agencies