State Security logo. (Credit: X)
This article was updated at 9:00 p.m. Beirut time, to include Rashid's arrest Thursday evening.
BEIRUT — Dany Rashid, previously employed by former minister Salim Jreissati and State Security Director Major General Tony Saliba, escaped from the State Security headquarters in Beirut on Wednesday night, spending nearly 24 hours at large before being discovered and handed over to the authorities.
Rashid was arrested in December 2023 after he was accused of assaulting Abdullah Hanna, an engineer and general manager who works with the Skaff family. He was discovered in Syrian territory following a search campaign launched by State Security in collaboration with Syrian security authorities. Rashid was arrested and will be appearing before the General Directorate of General Security in Lebanon on Friday morning for further legal procedures.
Salim Jreissati, close to the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), served as Minister of Justice between 2016 and 2019 and Minister of State for Presidential Affairs in 2019-2020.
The Skaff family is also active politically; the Popular Bloc, led by Myriam Skaff, is a political party with previous ties to the FPM. Both sides were allies in the 2005-2009 parliamentary period but did not maintain their alliance following it.
According to al-Jadeed, Rashid was Jreissati's office manager and Saliba's advisor. MTV reported in December 2023 that Rashid was accused of instructing a group to attack Hanna in Zahle "over a political and personal dispute."
On Jan. 3, 2023, al-Jadeed reported that a judge in the Bekaa accused Rashid and his associates of forming "an armed evil association" for the purpose of attempting to "kill engineer Abdullah Hanna in Zahle."
Following Rashid's escape from the State Security headquarters, located near the Palais de Justice, Judge Jamal al-Hajjar requested an investigation be opened at the State Security Directorate to identify those involved in helping facilitate Rashid's escape, al-Jadeed reported.
General Security and MPs from the FPM were unavailable for comment when contacted by L'Orient Today.
LBCI reported that two members of the State Security were arrested following the incident. L'Orient Today could not independently verify this.