Top Assad regime officials 'seek refuge in luxury hotels in Lebanon'

According to Lebanese media reports, senior officials from Bashar al-Assad's regime and their families are reportedly seeking refuge in Beirut, under the protection of Hezbollah, following the capture of key areas by Syrian rebels on Sunday, News.az reports citing foreign media.

Some of these figures were staying in luxury hotels in Beirut and Hezbollah strongholds in the city's southern suburbs, the Lebanese daily Nidaa al-Watan reported, as evidence of mass human rights abuses by the Assad regime comes to light in Damascus.

Among those in hiding is Ali Mamlouk, a sanctioned high-ranking intelligence official and adviser to Assad, who is also wanted by Lebanese authorities on terror charges for alleged involvement in the 2013 bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli.

Mamlouk was staying "comfortably" in a luxury hotel in Beirut under the protection of Hezbollah and State Security forces, the outlet said, as Syrians uncover dungeons used by the Assad regime to hold, torture, and kill thousands of supposed critics.

Similarly, Ghada Adib Mhanna, the wife of Assad's uncle and the mother of Rami Makhlouf - Assad's cousin and a key financial figure in his regime - is reportedly staying at a five-star hotel in central Beirut, the outlet said.

Firas Issa Shaleesh, the nephew of Dhu al-Himma Shalish - Assad's cousin and head of presidential security who died in 2022 and was implicated in the Jisr al-Shighour massacre under Hafez al-Assad's rule - was reportedly staying at another luxury hotel in Beirut.

The outlet noted that the two hotels had tightened security around them, including up to three state security patrols assigned to each of them.

Reports suggest that the escape of these officials to Lebanon was coordinated days before the fall of Damascus, facilitated by Hezbollah and a General Security officer at the Lebanese border with known ties to Mamlouk, according to Nidaa al-Watan.

Syrian operatives reportedly paid bribes amounting to thousands of dollars to General Security personnel to secure their passage, the paper added.

News.Az