BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian embassy in Lebanon suspended consular services Saturday, a day after two relatives of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad were arrested at Beirut airport with allegedly forged passports.
Also on Saturday, Lebanese authorities handed over dozens of Syrians – including former officers in the Syrian army under Assad – to the new Syrian authorities after they were caught illegally entering Lebanon, a war monitor and Lebanese officials said.
The embassy announced on its Facebook page that consular work had been suspended “until further notice” by order of the Syrian Foreign Ministry. The announcement gave no reason for the suspension.
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Two Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the suspension was ordered because the passports of Assad's relatives – the wife and daughter of one of his cousins - were allegedly forged. the embassy.
Assad's uncle, Rifaat Assad – who has been indicted in Switzerland on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity – had flown out the day before with his real passport and was not stopped, officials said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday that 70 Syrians, including former army officers, had been handed over by a Lebanese security delegation to the security forces of the new Syrian government, led by the former Hayat Tahrir al-Sham insurgent group. or HTS. Three Lebanese judicial officials confirmed the report, on condition of anonymity.
Regional countries have quickly established ties with Syria's new rulers. Delegations of Libyan and Bahraini officials arrived in Damascus on Saturday for official visits.
HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has largely succeeded in calming fears inside and outside Syria that his group would unleash collective punishment against communities that supported Assad's rule or attempt to impose strict Islamic to impose laws on the Syrian population. religious minorities.
However, sporadic clashes have broken out in recent days between HTS-led security forces and pro-Assad armed groups. The country's new security forces have launched a series of raids against officials linked to Assad and set up checkpoints in areas with significant populations of the Alawite religious minority to which the former president belongs to search for weapons.
There have also been ongoing tensions and clashes in northeastern Syria between Kurdish-led forces and armed groups backed by Turkey. Many Kurds have viewed with fear the new order in Damascus, which appears to have strengthened the Turkish hand in Syria.
Ankara views the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – a key US ally in the fight against the Islamic State – as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), classifying it as a terrorist organization.
The US State Department said on Saturday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to “discuss the latest developments in Syria.”
“Secretary Blinken emphasized the need to support a Syrian-led and Syrian-controlled political process that upholds human rights and prioritizes an inclusive and representative government,” the statement said, adding that they “also discussed the shared goal to prevent terrorism from endangering the world.” security” of Turkey and Syria.
On Saturday, hundreds of protesters, gathered by Kurdish women's groups, took part in a demonstration in the northeastern city of Hasaka to demand women's rights in the new Syria.
Perishan Ramadan, a participant from Hasaka, said the new government is “worse than Bashar” and that its leaders are Islamic extremists who “do not accept any role for women.”
Although the country's new leaders have not attempted to impose Islamic dress or other conventions, it remains to be seen what role women will play in the new order and whether they will hold political or government positions.
“Women must be present in the new constitution for Syria,” said Rihan Loqo, spokeswoman for the women's organization Kongra Star. “…Women's rights should not be ignored.”
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Associated Press writers Hogir Abdo in Hasaka, Syria, and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.
