Via The CradleA retired Syrian general who commanded forces fighting ISIS was abducted by personnel from the Syrian embassy in Lebanon, Al-Akhbar reported on Saturday.Adel Issa, an Alawite brigadier general from Tartous, entered the Syrian embassy in Beirut at 12:30 pm on Friday to arrange a power of attorney for a relative. His Syrian driver waited outside for him, but he never returned. As his driver waited outside, a car with several young men stopped and demanded that the driver hand over the retired general's phone, claiming they needed to register his passport.Syrian Embassy in BeirutThe driver waited for Issa until 4:30 pm before going to the embassy entrance to inquire about him. A Lebanese guard prevented him from entering, telling him the embassy had closed an hour before.After persisting, the driver was able to speak with an embassy employee who told him that Issa had left the embassy 20 minutes earlier. This surprised the driver, as Issa never came out of the embassy to have the driver take him home.The driver then informed the general's family of the incident. They began making calls to locate him, but his phone was switched off after 3:30 pm.The family contacted several Lebanese organizations for help in determining his fate, fearing he might have been illegally detained at the embassy, ​​given his status as an Alawite officer in the deposed government of Bashar al-Assad. There were also fears that he might be transferred to Syria and subjected to torture.Since the fall of Assad's government in October 2024, Syria's new authorities, led by the former Al-Qaeda leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, have detained thousands of Alawite officers from the former army. Syrian authorities claim they are detained for committing war crimes during the 14-year war that began in 2011. However, in practice they are typically detained based on their religious identity as Alawites.According to a December 2025 report by Reuters, Syria's prisons are overflowing with Alawite men who are held without trial and often tortured.Al-Akhbar notes that Brigadier General Issa had retired more than six years ago. He continued to live in Tartous and move around Syria without being pursued by the new authorities.He gave a statement before a Syrian court a few months ago regarding a financial dispute with someone without being arrested or prosecuted, as there was no warrant or legal case against him. However, roughly one month ago, a group of unknown armed men raided Issa's home and inquired about him.#Syria/#Lebanon: Following the scandal reported by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar over the Syrian Embassy’s abduction and detention of Syrian citizens, the embassy admitted yesterday that retired officer Adel Issa had been held inside the embassy. Embassy staff then handed him… https://t.co/WEkW2aF9TW pic.twitter.com/IgDK7k0H9N