Ali Mamlouk is not in Lebanon, says Mawlawi

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Thursday that Ali Mamlouk, internal security adviser to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and director of the Syrian National Security Bureau, was not in Lebanon.

"According to information from the Lebanese security services, Ali Mamlouk is not present in Lebanon and has not entered through any legal crossing point," Mawlawi told the state-run National News Agency (NNA). "The intelligence services have confirmed that he is not on Lebanese territory."

The minister clarified that "no security official of the former Syrian regime entered Lebanon through legal crossings, except for some families and businessmen authorized to enter in accordance with the strict directives issued by the Lebanese General Security. The latter are not targeted by any judicial or international warrant, and many of them left the country via the airport."

"The security and intelligence services are constantly following up on information regarding the presence of other officials to verify its accuracy," he added.

Since the fall of the Syrian government on Dec. 8, questions have been growing about the fate of several senior officials. In recent days, attention has focused on the Syrian-Lebanese border, where some fear their infiltration into Lebanon. This situation has led to a mobilization of security forces and the Lebanese army, which have quickly deployed to control the border between the two countries. Press reports have reported the arrival in Beirut of several officials from the former Syrian government, some of whom are reportedly the subject of international arrest warrants.

Mamlouk, considered to have been one of the most powerful men in Assad's Syria, is accused of having planned assassinations in 2013 targeting Lebanese political and religious figures opposed to the authorities in Damascus. Since 2018, he has been the subject of a summons issued by the Lebanese courts, which he has refused to comply with. In this case, former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, accused of having collaborated with Mamlouk, was sentenced in 2016 to 13 years of forced labor.

"I very much doubt that he was able to enter Lebanon," a security source told L'Orient-Le Jour.

Mawlawi said that "the Lebanese security services act in accordance with the law and will arrest all those wanted under Lebanese or international warrants." He also stressed that "the Lebanese army is making great efforts to control illegal crossings, arresting those who enter Lebanon clandestinely and sending them back to Syria."

On Dec. 9, the day after the fall of the Assad government, General Security announced that it was closely monitoring the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing on the Syrian side, in cooperation with the Lebanese army and the Internal Security Forces (ISF). This announcement followed attempts by a large number of Syrian nationals fleeing Syria to enter Lebanon illegally. On the same day, Mawlawi visited the Masnaa border crossing in the Bekaa to monitor the situation.

Since Dec. 8, hundreds of Syrians have been gathering on both sides of the border. On the Lebanese side, refugees and migrants want to return to Syria after the fall of the regime, while on the Syrian side, others are trying to flee the advance of the rebels.

According to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent, the Lebanese army arrested a large number of Syrians who tried to enter the country illegally between Masnaa and the Anjar valley.

This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.