Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during an event on the first anniversary of Bashar al-Assad's fall, in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 8, 2025. (Credit: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Several Lebanese officials on Sunday denounced the alleged presence and activities in Lebanon of former associates of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, urging authorities to act swiftly.
Al Jazeera and local media had reported that figures close to the former regime were plotting against Syria’s new leadership.
“This issue requires special attention from the Lebanese state and its security services,” said Wael Bou Faour, a Progressive Socialist Party MP, endorsing a call made by former PSP leader Walid Joumblatt.
Speaking at a party event in South Bekaa, Bou Faour said some former Syrian officers were involved in sabotage attempts in both Syria and Lebanon. “Despite the fall of Assad’s criminal regime, Lebanese-Syrian relations remain governed by the Taif Agreement, which clearly states that Lebanon must not serve as a base or transit point for aggression against Syria, and vice versa,” he said, calling on authorities to arrest former regime officers allegedly hiding in Lebanon.
Another PSP MP, Bilal Abdallah, wrote on X that “pillars, officers, thugs and criminals of the former Syrian regime are moving freely in Lebanon, while hundreds of Syrian political prisoners remain in our prisons.” He questioned who was blocking progress on an issue he said was central to redefining relations between the two countries.
Opposition MP Ibrahim Mneimneh warned that “remnants of the Assad regime are trying to resume their activities against Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa,” cautioning against “tampering with political and economic interests because of the remains of a regime that destroyed Lebanon.”
Calls for arrests
In a statement, Dar al-Fatwa said it had warned for months of a significant presence of former regime elements, particularly in the Bekaa and northern Lebanon, as well as in Beirut and its suburbs. It alleged they were operating under the protection of partisan security services and with the complicity of Lebanese authorities, living among the population in rented apartments and villas.
The fall of Assad’s regime, overthrown on Dec. 8, 2024, by a coalition of Islamist rebels, and the subsequent intercommunal violence in Syria have triggered new waves of displaced Syrians into Lebanon, notably Alawites, particularly in Akkar and Hermel.
In a video published Dec. 31, Al Jazeera said former Assad-era officers were preparing a plot to destabilize Syria through military action against President Ahmad al-Sharaa's government along the predominantly Alawite coast, including from Lebanese territory.
Against this backdrop, the Lebanese Army carried out raids Saturday in Tripoli, notably in the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood, and in several mainly Alawite localities in Akkar. According to local municipalities, the operations targeted camps and shelters hosting displaced Syrians.
While the army did not link the raids to reports about former Syrian regime figures, it said nine Lebanese and 35 Syrians were arrested Saturday in Akkar, Tripoli, Batroun, Baalbek and Hermel for various offenses, including illegal weapons possession, drug use, human trafficking and illegal residency. The army said it seized weapons, ammunition, drugs and military equipment.
Separately, a peaceful protest was held Sunday in the Akkar town of Qawashra to oppose what participants described as efforts to turn the region and North Lebanon into a base for the movements of former Assad-era figures. Demonstrators also called on Lebanese authorities to release detained Islamists, according to our regional correspondent.
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