Syria's security forces have detained Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad, state news agency SANA said on Saturday.
Wassim al-Assad © SNT
Syria's security forces have detained Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad, state news agency SANA said 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.
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.
Reporting by Maya Gebeily
The United States welcomed "constructive" discussions between Israeli and Lebanese military delegations at the Pentagon on Friday, following nine hours of talks aimed at advancing the security track of ongoing peace negotiations between the two countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would soon decide on a proposed deal to extend the ceasefire with Iran, though the two countries still appeared to differ on significant issues that have been central to the conflict.
Iran said on Friday it was looking for actions, not words from the United States after sources said President Donald Trump was weighing an initial U.S.-Iranian agreement to extend a ceasefire and open the Strait of Hormuz.
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