Reports: Former Syrian regime figures are taking Lebanon a first step to move to several destinations including Iran and Russia
As the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad Syrian regime approaches, questions are growing about the fate of a number of senior officials whose names have been linked to crimes and abuses against Syrians, amid reports that they have fled the country and disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Former Syrian general Bassam al Hassan, who fled Syria at the time of the Assad regime collapse on December 8, 2024, is currently in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
He was accused of overseeing the chemical attacks and the kidnapping of US journalist Austin Tice.
Bassam al Hassan moved from Lebanon to Iran with the help of Iranian officials, before later returning to Beirut where he was investigated by a US security team believed to have obtained new information about the fate of Austin Tice.
Recently Lebanon had become a major crossing point for a number of senior members of the former regime to flee to other countries, including Ali Mamlouk, a retired director of national security and one of the most prominent associates of Assad’s security department, along with Major General Mohamed Mahla, the former head of the Military Intelligence Division, and Ghayath Dala, a prominent commander in Maher al Assad’s Fourth Division, who all left to Russia.
The head of the investigation branch of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate, Abd al Salam Mahmoud reportedly fled Syria to Lebanon and then moved to Iran.
In another context, a Lebanese judicial sources announced that the Cassation Public Prosecution has received a judicial letter from the French authorities demanding the investigation and prosecution of three senior officials of the former regime: Major General, Jamil al Hassan, the former director of the Air Force Intelligence, Ali Mamlouk, the head of the National Security Bureau, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud.
France asked the Lebanese authorities to identify their whereabouts and hand them over if they are found to be on Lebanese soil, stressing that it has accurate information about their presence, including local phone numbers they used to communicate.
According to several reports that recently indicated that Jamil al Hassan, is still in Lebanese soil, as most likely lives in a remote village, while Ali’s brother Mamlouk’s family is in Beirut and owns investments inside the country, while his brother is receiving cancer treatment at the American University Hospital.
The chaos that accompanied the fall of the regime in 2024 allowed many Syrian officials to flee to Lebanon with the help of some security agencies, as many of them used Lebanon as a starting point to move to other destinations, most notably Russia and Iran.
