The Syrian authorities have submitted a request to the Lebanese judiciary demanding the extradition of Suleiman Hilal Assad, the son of former President Bashar al-Assad's cousin.
According to the newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour, he was captured on September 11 during an operation by the Lebanese army against drug trafficking in the Bekaa Valley and was interrogated by military intelligence officers before being taken to court. On September 2, a group of former Syrian army officers who were conducting military training for young people from Lebanon's Alawite community were arrested.
On August 14, former Syrian army general Adel Issa, who was accused in his homeland of committing war crimes during the internal conflict, was deported from Lebanon.
The decision to extradite Issa to Syrian authorities was made within the framework of a bilateral judicial cooperation agreement, which provides for the extradition of wanted citizens.
