Lebanon’s top prosecutor has ordered the extradition of former Syrian General Adel Issa to Syria to stand trial over crimes he is accused of committing on Syrian territory.
Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation Judge Ahmad Rami al-Haj ordered Issa, who is being held in Lebanon, to be handed over to the Syrian authorities after Lebanese judicial authorities determined that all legal and judicial conditions for his extradition had been met, the state-run National News Agency said on Tuesday.
The decision was based on a Lebanese-Syrian judicial agreement signed in 1951, NNA said.
Al-Haj instructed the Central Criminal Investigations Department to transfer Issa from his detention facility at Beirut’s Palace of Justice to the General Security Directorate.
He will then be taken to the Lebanese-Syrian border and handed over to a Syrian security committee waiting on the Syrian side, according to the agency.
Crimes against humanity
Issa was a senior military officer under the ousted government of Bashar al Assad and formerly commanded the Syrian army’s 17th Division.
He also served as commander of government ground forces in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
Lebanese authorities detained Issa earlier this month after he went to the Syrian Embassy in Beirut for administrative paperwork, following a Syrian warrant against him.
Syrian authorities accuse him of murder and crimes against humanity, accusations he has denied.
On Tuesday, a Syrian court also sentenced Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of Bashar al Assad, to death for crimes against humanity, according to the SANA news agency.
Damascus’ Fourth Criminal Court convicted Wassim of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against the Syrian people during the rule of the ousted government, SANA said.
The court also ordered the confiscation of his movable and immovable assets in favour of the state treasury.
The verdict was issued during the sixth trial hearing against Wassim, who faced several charges, including forming and running irregular armed groups from early 2011 under orders from Brig. Gen. Ghiath Dalla, a brigade commander in the Fourth Division, which was led by Assad’s brother Maher.
