Syria’s embassy in Lebanon suspends services as Lebanon hands over former Syrian army officers

Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, foreground, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, walks in the presidential palace ahead of his meeting with Walid Ellafi, Libyan minister of state for communication and political affairs, in Damascus on Saturday. Syria’s embassy in Lebanon suspended consular services Saturday, a day after two relatives of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad were arrested at the Beirut airport with allegedly forged passports. Lebanese authorities also handed over dozens of Syrians — including former officers in the Syrian army under Assad — to the new Syrian government after they were caught illegally entering Lebanon, a war monitor and Lebanese officials said. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Saturday that 70 Syrians, including former army officers, were handed over by a Lebanese security delegation to the security forces of the new Syrian government, led by the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. The U.S. State Department said Saturday that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken had spoken with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to “discuss the latest developments in Syria.” “Secretary Blinken emphasized the need to support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that upholds human rights and prioritizes an inclusive and representative government,” the statement said, adding that they “also discussed the shared goal of preventing terrorism from endangering the security” of Turkey and Syria.