Retired Syrian General Who Fought ISIS 'Disappears' Inside Embassy In Beirut

A retired Syrian brigadier general, Adel Issa, has reportedly “disappeared” after being abducted inside the Syrian embassy in Beirut, according to Al-Akhbar. Issa, an Alawite officer from Tartous, entered the embassy at 12:30 p.m. on Friday to arrange a power of attorney for a relative, leaving his driver outside. The driver was later approached by a car of young men who took Issa’s phone and claimed they needed to register his passport. After Issa never emerged, embassy staff later said he had left about 20 minutes earlier. His family said his phone was switched off after 3:30 p.m. With Syria’s new authorities detaining thousands of Alawite officers, the family fears illegal detention or transfer to Syria, where a Reuters report in December 2025 described prisons overflowing with Alawite men held without trial and often tortured. The Syrian Justice Archive said efforts were made to present the abduction as a legal process.