Lebanon's judicial authorities have decided to hand over a former Syrian military general under ousted President Bashar Assad to Syria, officials said Tuesday. Major General Adel Issa is expected to face trial for crimes he allegedly committed during the country's conflict, according to infohub.kz.
Issa is the first military officer to be handed over by Lebanon since Assad's fall in late 2024. He is expected to stand trial in his home country. However, specific details of the charges against him have not been released. The decision comes days after Lebanon's parliament voted to abolish the death penalty, making Lebanon the first Arab country to do so.
According to judicial officials, Issa is being handed over under a 1951 agreement between the two countries that provides for the extradition of suspected criminals. On Tuesday afternoon, Issa was taken by members of Lebanon's General Security Directorate to a border crossing and handed over to Syrian authorities, two judicial and two security officials said on condition of anonymity.
After Assad's fall in December 2024, many military and security officers fled to Lebanon, where some remain. Dozens of former security officials accused of atrocities have been arrested and put on trial in Syria.
Last week, a Syrian court sentenced Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia, while their maternal cousin, Brigadier General Atef Najib, became the most senior security official to be sentenced to death while in custody. The Assad brothers fled to Russia.
Issa was questioned last week by Lebanon's public prosecutor, Ahmad Rami Hajj, over alleged crimes in Syria's eastern Deir el-Zour and northern Raqqa provinces during the conflict that began in 2011. Issa denied all charges, saying he was a military officer carrying out orders.
The Syrian embassy in Beirut sent Issa's charge sheet to Lebanese judicial authorities earlier this month. Issa was detained on August 8 when he went to the embassy for paperwork. He has been held at Beirut's Palace of Justice detention center.
Issa fled to Lebanon illegally after Assad's fall. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Issa commanded the Syrian army's 17th Division, was appointed to command ground forces in Deir el-Zour in 2015, and retired in late 2016.
Syria's conflict, which began with anti-government protests in March 2011 and turned into a civil war, has left half a million people dead and over one million wounded.