Lebanon has arrested a Syrian national who was helping senior associates of ousted president Bashar al-Assad finance fighters as part of a plot to destabilize Syria's new ruling order, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Ahmad Dunya was detained earlier this week, according to two Lebanese security sources and two of his former associates. The Lebanese security sources did not say what charges were linked to his arrest or if he would be extradited to Syria.
Reuters could not immediately reach Dunya or his legal counsel for comment.
Syrian tracking down officers who fled after Assad was overthrown
His arrest came nearly a month after top Syrian security officials asked Lebanon to track down and hand over more than 200 officers who fled there after Assad was overthrown by rebel forces in December 2024, following 14 years of civil war.
That request followed a Reuters investigation that detailed rival plots being pursued by former Assad cohorts to finance potential Alawite militant groups in Lebanon and along the Syrian coast through financial intermediaries.
Dunya was one of those intermediaries and funneled money from Rami Makhlouf, Assad's billionaire cousin who now lives along with the ex-Syrian dictator in exile in Moscow, to prospective fighters in Lebanon and Syria, Reuters found.
A former associate of Dunya's and a Syrian figure close to Makhlouf both confirmed that Dunya was a key financial conduit for his funds and was detained in Lebanon. The two sources said he managed extensive financial records, including payroll tables and financial receipts.
In recent months, Dunya had been skimming off the top of Makhlouf's transfers, according to the two Syrian sources.
The Reuters investigation found that Makhlouf had spent at least $6 million on salaries and equipment for prospective fighters. Some of the financial records uncovered claimed that Makhlouf spent $976,705 in May, and that one group of 5,000 fighters received $150,000 in August.
A Lebanese security source said there were likely dozens of other financial handlers like Dunya still operating in Lebanon on behalf of Assad's former associates.
Assad in Moscow
The question that some are asking in the region is: What does he do in Moscow?
An Al-Arabiya expose claims to have information. “In Moscow, Assad lives a life unlike the luxury he enjoyed on the throne of Qasioun [Damascus].” Here in Moscow, there are no processions for Assad, no statues, the report says.
“No chants glorifying the leader, but rather enforced isolation under a glass roof and strict control over his movements and stillness, with his mouth gagged from the media. There are many accounts regarding where the ‘lion’ [‘assad’ means ‘lion’] lives.”
The report says that “all eyes are on the Moscow City complex, the city’s heart, a hub of wealth and influence. Some reports suggest a luxurious enclave just outside the city walls. Despite the different versions, the result is the same: Assad lives behind walls, and his life has been turned upside down. As Dostoevsky said, ‘One deserves what happens to one, so that one may wake up a little from one’s mistakes.’”
Al-Arabiya also cites rumors that Assad opened a shop to make money and that he may own several apartment buildings. “Interestingly, some residents’ accounts indicate that the phone number of the real estate rental company is registered with many customers under the name ‘Bashar City Rentals.’”