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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Bashar's cousin arrested |
| 2006-01-01 |
| State Prosecutor Said Mirza revealed Friday that the arrest of Monzer Jamil Assad, a cousin of the Syrian president, at Rafik Hariri International Airport was in compliance with an arrest warrant issued in absentia by a judge in Damascus on murder charges. The warrant had been turned into an international arrest warrant by Interpol. Mirza explained that the State Prosecutor's Office has prepared a letter to be sent to the Syrian Judiciary to officially inform it of Assad's arrest. The letter also stipulates that Syria can extradite Assad by submitting a request according to the judicial cooperation agreement between the two countries. The General Security Corps arrested Assad after he tried to flee the country. He will be detained until his handover to Syrian authorities. The judiciary, two months ago, issued an accusatory statement instructing the referral of three suspects for trial on charges of the theft of antiquities from the home of Jamil Assad, the father of Monzer Jamil Assad, in Aley. Meanwhile, Syrian reports announced that Monzer had left the town of Qordaha, in Lattakia on the Syrian coast, for Paris, more than three months ago after announcing the abduction of his 16-year-old son Hafez following a shoot out on the Mezzeh highway. Monzer's arrest in Beirut was not officially acknowledged by Syria, but a Syrian source said any pursuit of Monzer was based on smuggling operations and that Damascus would not overlook "irresponsible and illegal activities, regardless of the actor." According to reports, Monzer accused Syria's secret service of kidnapping his son and bodyguard to pressuring him regarding a dispute over the inheritance of his late father, a member of the Syrian Parliament and brother of late President Hafez Assad. However, Monzer's attorney, Tahseen Taha, said his client wished to transfer any claims to his inheritance to his step-mother. Taha indicated that Monzer and his brothers had expressed more than once their readiness to relinquish their full inheritance to President Bashar Assad, to be dispersed in "any way he deems appropriate." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |