Lebanon hands general to Syria in first such transfer since Assad’s fall

Lebanese authorities handed a former senior Syrian army officer to Damascus on Wednesday to face charges including murder and torture, Syria’s interior

ministry said, marking the first handover of an Assad-era military officer by Lebanon since former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in 2024.



Major General Adel Issa, a former commander of the Syrian army’s 17th Division and later ground forces in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, was transferred to Syrian custody after Lebanese authorities detained him earlier this month.



The ministry said Issa was wanted under an arrest warrant on charges including intentional homicide, facilitating a felony, killing more than two people, torture leading to death, and crimes aimed at inciting civil war and sectarian strife.