Lebanon detains Syrian who helped funnel funds to pro-Assad fighters, sources say 

BEIRUT — Lebanon has arrested a Syrian national who was helping senior associates of ousted president Bashar al-Assad finance fighters as part of a plot to destabilize Syria's new ruling order, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Ahmad Dunya was detained earlier this week, according to two Lebanese security sources and two of his former associates. The Lebanese security sources did not say what charges were linked to his arrest or if he would be extradited to Syria.

However, on Friday evening, the Lebanese Army issued a statement denying "reports circulating about the arrest of a Syrian for his alleged involvement in transferring funds to prepare attacks in a brother country."

The statement also specified that "Syrian nationals are currently being held by the army for various reasons unrelated to the planning of security operations outside Lebanon, and that investigations concerning them are being conducted under the supervision of the competent judicial authorities."

This announcement of the arrest comes nearly a month after senior Syrian security officials asked Lebanon to identify and hand over more than 200 officers from the former regime who had sought refuge in its territory after the fall of the Syrian president, who was overthrown on Dec. 8, 2024, by a coalition of Islamist rebel groups.

That request followed a Reuters investigation that detailed rival plots being pursued by former Assad cohorts to finance potential Alawite militant groups in Lebanon and along the Syrian coast through financial intermediaries.

Reuters could not immediately reach Dunya or his legal counsel for comment.

Dunya was one of those intermediaries and funneled money from Rami Makhlouf, Assad's billionaire cousin who now lives along with the ex-Syrian dictator in exile in Moscow, to prospective fighters in Lebanon and Syria, Reuters found.

A former associate of Dunya's and a Syrian figure close to Makhlouf both confirmed that Dunya was a key financial conduit for his funds and was detained in Lebanon. The two sources said he managed extensive financial records, including payroll tables and financial receipts.

In recent months, Dunya had been skimming off the top of Makhlouf's transfers, according to the two Syrian sources.

The Reuters investigation found that Makhlouf had spent at least $6 million on salaries and equipment for prospective fighters. Some of the financial records uncovered claimed that Makhlouf spent $976,705 in May, and that one group of 5,000 fighters received $150,000 in August.

A Lebanese security source said there were likely dozens of other financial handlers like Dunya still operating in Lebanon on behalf of Assad's former associates.