A senior Syrian intelligence official visited Beirut to check whether former Assad regime figures are hiding in Lebanon.
The head of Syrian intelligence, Abdel Rahman al-Dabbagh, paid an unannounced visit to Lebanon this week to discuss bilateral security coordination and counterterrorism, as Damascus works to repair strained ties between the two countries.
Al-Dabbagh was accompanied by Khaled al-Ahmad, a close associate of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The Syrian delegation met with Lebanon’s General Security chief Hassan Shakir and Lebanese Army Intelligence head Tony Kawaji.
According to Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese daily aligned with Hezbollah, the visit aimed to determine whether senior figures from the former Assad regime are currently in Lebanon. Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule last December, numerous senior officials reportedly fled Syria via Lebanon or settled there.