Wanted for war crimes: Why was retired Syrian Gen. Adel Issa detained in Beirut?

Report by Petra Abou Haidar, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

Wanted by Syrian authorities and having fled to Lebanon, he entered his country’s embassy in Lebanon to request official documents, only to be detained.

So, what is the story behind Adel Issa, a retired general in the former Syrian army?

Issa, from the coastal Syrian province of Tartus, retired from the army about five years ago.

Before his retirement, however, he held a prominent military position: commander of the 17th Division of the former Syrian army. It was one of the main military formations deployed in northeastern Syria, particularly in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, and carries a grim image among many residents of those areas, who associate the division with years of shelling, killings and destruction during the war.

Issa assumed his position in 2014, during one of the bloodiest periods of the Syrian war, when fighting extended beyond military fronts and civilians and communities paid the price.

So, what happened to Issa in Lebanon?

According to the official account, Issa went to the Syrian Embassy in Beirut last week to request a general power of attorney.

After his name was checked, authorities discovered that he was wanted. The embassy contacted the justice, interior and foreign ministries in Damascus, which confirmed that an in absentia arrest warrant had been issued against him by the Criminal Court and that he was wanted on war crimes charges.

According to the information, Syrian authorities had raided his home in Tartus several times but failed to find him.

The embassy then contacted the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation. Prosecutor General Judge Ahmad Rami el-Hajj dispatched a Criminal Investigation Unit patrol, which took custody of Issa outside the embassy premises and on Lebanese territory.

Meanwhile, Judge el-Hajj received a Syrian request for Issa’s extradition under the judicial agreement between the two countries. The embassy later sent the documents and details requested by el-Hajj.

According to the extradition request, Issa is wanted over his role as commander of the 17th Division, as well as for heading a security operations room in Deir ez-Zor province. He is being pursued on war crimes charges.

A week after his detention at the Criminal Investigation Unit detention facility at the Justice Palace, Prosecutor General Judge Ahmad Rami el-Hajj questioned Issa Friday and issued a judicial detention order against him, pending a decision on the extradition request next week.

Pending a final decision on whether he will be extradited, his lawyer said that if the extradition is approved, he will pursue another legal avenue: applying for political asylum and seeking to suspend the extradition until the application is decided.

The application will be filed with the Interior Ministry and reviewed by the political asylum committee, headed by the interior minister, which makes its decision by majority vote.

The case of Adel Issa is one of the lingering consequences of a Syrian war whose files and unresolved issues remain open and have crossed borders.