Lebanon orders extradition of Assad-era general to Syria

Lebanon's top prosecutor on Tuesday ordered the extradition of former Syrian General Adel Issa to Syria to stand trial over crimes he is accused of committing on Syrian territory, Lebanese media reported.

Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation Judge Ahmad Rami al-Haj ordered Issa, who is being held in Lebanon, to be handed over to the Syrian authorities after Lebanese judicial authorities determined that all legal and judicial conditions for his extradition had been met, the state-run National News Agency said.

The decision was based on a Lebanese-Syrian judicial agreement signed in 1951, NNA said.

Al-Haj instructed the Central Criminal Investigations Department to transfer Issa from his detention facility at Beirut's Palace of Justice to the General Security Directorate.

He will then be taken to the Lebanese-Syrian border and handed over to a Syrian security committee waiting on the Syrian side, according to the agency.

Issa was a senior military officer under the ousted government of Bashar Assad and formerly commanded the Syrian army's 17th Division. He also served as commander of government ground forces in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor.

Lebanese authorities detained Issa earlier this month after he went to the Syrian Embassy in Beirut for administrative paperwork, following a Syrian warrant against him. Syrian authorities accuse him of murder and crimes against humanity, accusations he has denied.