Caretaker Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi at a press conference on Aug. 7, 2023. (Credit: Photo archive Houssam Chbaro)
Lebanon's caretaker Interior Minister, Bassam Mawlawi, confirmed Wednesday evening that the wife and son of Maher al-Assad — the brother of Syria's ousted president and second-in-command of the regime — were smuggled out of Lebanon through Beirut's international airport.
Earlier, L’Orient-Le Jour learned from security sources that the two had reportedly departed Beirut for a Gulf country after a payment was made to a Lebanese security service.
In an interview with local channel MTV, Mawlawi said, “Anyone not wanted by judicial or international authorities is permitted to enter Lebanon through legal crossings and leave freely.”
Ali Mamlouk's photo circulated at the airport
Mawlawi confirmed that Ali Mamlouk, former security adviser to Bashar al-Assad and head of the Syrian National Security Bureau, “is not present on Lebanese territory and has not entered the country.”
These remarks echoed statements made shortly after the fall of the Assad regime. Mawlawi emphasized that if Mamlouk enters Lebanon, he will be “arrested.” He added that Mamlouk's photo has been circulated to security agents at Beirut airport to prevent any attempt to escape using falsified documents, according to the National News Agency (NNA).
Once considered one of the most powerful figures in Assad’s Syria, Mamlouk is accused of orchestrating assassinations in 2013 targeting Lebanese political and religious figures opposed to the regime. Since 2018, he has been subject to a summons issued by the Lebanese judiciary, which he has refused to comply with. In a related case, former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, accused of collaborating with Mamlouk, was sentenced in 2016 to 13 years of hard labor.
Masher al-Assad's whereabouts
While Bashar al-Assad's presence in Moscow has been confirmed following his escape, Maher al-Assad remains unaccounted for. He is also the target of an international arrest warrant issued by France in November 2023 for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes. Rumors suggest that Maher, known as the Captagon trafficking kingpin in Syria, may have fled to the United Arab Emirates.
L’Orient-Le Jour previously learned from security sources that at least three Syrian figures were secretly smuggled out through Beirut airport, despite the airport being closely monitored by the Lebanese Army following an international decision in the wake of the war against Israel
Additional media reports have mentioned the arrival of several officials from the former Syrian regime in Beirut, some of whom are reportedly the subject of international arrest warrants. Among them, Bouthaina Shaaban, a longtime adviser to Bashar al-Assad, is said to have been “smuggled to an unknown destination,” according to the sources.