Lebanon has handed over former Syrian Major-General Adel Issa to Damascus, marking the first extradition of a Syrian military officer who fled following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad's government in December 2024. Syria's Interior Ministry confirmed the transfer on Wednesday.
Issa, 67, faces charges including intentional homicide, torture leading to death, and inciting civil war. He formerly commanded the Syrian army's 17th Division and led ground forces in Deir ez-Zur province until 2016. Lebanese authorities detained him on August 8 after he visited the Syrian embassy in Beirut to complete paperwork, and a Lebanese court approved the extradition on Tuesday.
The handover follows a January request in which Syrian authorities provided Lebanese officials a list of more than 200 wanted former senior officers. It also comes shortly after a Damascus court sentenced al-Assad to death in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity.