Syrian security forces detain cousin of ousted leader Assad
Reuters
Syria's security forces have detained Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of former leader Bashar al-Assad, the state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.
Wassim al-Assad was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 for leading a paramilitary force backing Assad's army and for trafficking drugs including the amphetamine-like drug captagon, News.Az reports citing Reuters.
Bashar al-Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led rebel insurgency in December and fled to Moscow. Most of his family members and inner circle either fled Syria or went underground.
Syria’s new security forces have been pursuing members of the former administration - mainly those involved in the feared security branches accused of rights abuses.
Rights groups have called for a fully-fledged transitional justice process to hold them to account.
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