A security source and a judicial source said that the Lebanese authorities succeeded, to a large extent, in solving the mystery of the kidnapping of the well-known Syrian TikToker Hussein Al-Ahmad, nicknamed “Hayho,” from within Lebanese territory and transferring him to Syrian territory, contrary to the official Syrian allegations that spoke about that Heho was arrested inside Syrian territory, at one of the illegal crossings on the border with Lebanon, after entering surreptitiously.
The roots of the problem that made the Syrian authorities seek after “Hayho” go back to his exposure to Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, against the backdrop of the Syrian embassy in Beirut’s refusal to issue him a new passport.
The story began a few weeks ago, after “Hiho” went to the Syrian embassy in Beirut with the aim of obtaining a new passport. After he entered the designated place and got a number to wait and it was his turn, one of the employees recognized him through his name on the “system.” The employee summoned bearded security men affiliated with the embassy’s security service, and they subjected Al-Ahmad, in an adjacent room, to investigation against the backdrop of the harsh criticism he directed on his “Tik Tok” page to the new authorities in Syria.
Accordingly, “Hiho” was informed of the decision to refuse to issue him a new passport, and of the necessity of leaving the embassy and not returning again, in a punitive action that mixes the personal and the official and reflects the stripping of citizenship, without legal justification and without any judicial decision issued by the Damascus authorities. This behavior prompted Bahiho to record a video outside the campus of the Syrian embassy in Beirut, during which he directed insults at the interim Syrian president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and his family.
Instead of the Syrian authorities issuing a judicial decision and informing the judicial authorities in Beirut of its content, in preparation for the arrest of “Hiho” through the legal process, they decided to ignore all the good relations that the Chargé d’Affaires of the Syrian Embassy, Mr. Iyad Al-Hazzaa, had forged with security and law officers, including the Cassation Public Prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Rami Al-Hajj, and take a decision to arrest Hiho and kidnap him from within Lebanese territory and take him to Syria, an act that reflects an overwhelming desire to make him a lesson. To critics of the new authority, and to intimidate opponents or Syrian citizens residing on Lebanese territory.
The thin thread that led the agencies to unravel the secrets of the kidnapping, according to the security and judicial sources, was the communications data, which revealed the role of Haiho’s roommate, named W. Yaqoub (Syrian – disappeared from sight). According to what turned out, after the problem resulting from the video recording worsened, Yaqoub worked to convince his partner of the necessity of moving from the Al-Salam neighborhood to a “safer” place located on the outskirts of the southern suburb of Beirut, and renting a small apartment there, for fear of being persecuted or exposed to harm.
Investigations carried out by the agencies showed that moving Hiho to his new place was a plot planned by Yacoub in cooperation with others. He then convinced “Hiho” that he knew that there were people who could settle his situation, which explains why he came out of his “hide” and waited for people who came specifically to move him, after which communications with him were cut off, until the Syrian authorities announced his arrest inside Syria.
Investigations by the agencies revealed that one of the cars used in the operation contained people who were found to be active within a group operating under the direct direction of the so-called Saad Al-Masry, a former axis commander in Tripoli, and a permanent guest of the Syrian embassy in Beirut, who recently appeared in a photo alongside Mr. Al-Hazza. He also has a close relationship with Shadi Al-Mawlawi, who was previously wanted by the Lebanese security services on various charges related to the activity of jihadist organizations in northern Lebanon. He is the same person to whom the services constantly receive information about the existence of coordination activity with his fellow jihadists in northern Lebanon.
According to what was understood from security and judicial sources, it is suspected that Al-Masry supervised the transfer of Hiho into Syrian territory and his handover to Al-Mawlawi, where they have a relationship, or to Syrian agencies for whose benefit Al-Mawlawi began working.
Security sources ruled out the story that Hiho had gone alone and on his own initiative to a border area with Syria, based on his apparent fear of prosecution and arrest.
In any case, what happened requires expanding investigations by the Lebanese security services. It is true that Haiho is a Syrian citizen, but he was kidnapped in a police manner from Lebanese territory, and it turned out that the kidnappers were linked to the Syrian security services, which brings to mind the practices of the previous Syrian regime, and contradicts the continuous talk of Syrian officials, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, about the new Syrian authorities’ respect for Lebanese sovereignty.
It is noteworthy that the same authorities at the Syrian embassy in Beirut tried to repeat the same method with retired Syrian Major General Adel Issa, who in turn went to the embassy with the intention of obtaining a power of attorney, before he was subjected to investigation and detained inside the embassy. After raising the issue in the media, the embassy security service was forced, after 7 hours of detaining him, to hand him over to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Judicial Police, following a call Al-Hazza made to the Cassation Prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Rami Al-Hajj, and not as it was said that he was handed over immediately after his arrest based on the existence of lawsuits against him inside Syria.
