Syria accused of kidnappings in Lebanon

Syria was behind the kidnapping of Syrian dissidents who fled to Lebanon after the uprising against their country's president began, a Lebanese official said. Gen. Asraf Rifi, the head of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, told Parliament that Syria orchestrated the disappearance of Shibli al-Aisamy, 89, a leading voice against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Gen. Rifi also accused Syria of arranging the disappearance of three Syrian brothers that was carried out by rogue members of the Lebanese security forces. A parliamentary report on Gen. Rifi's closed-door testimony in October was leaked to the news media. In it he "personally accuses the Syrian Embassy in Lebanon of kidnapping Aisamy in an operation that was similar to the abduction of the Jassem brothers." More than 500 Syrians have fled to Lebanon since the uprising against President Assad escalated in mid-March, human rights groups said.