Relative of Bashar Assad Arrested in Syria

Syrian security forces have arrested Brigadier General Atef Najib, who is the cousin of former President Bashar al-Assad's mother’s brother. This was reported by РИА Новости.

It was noted that the arrest of Assad’s relative was announced by Mustafa Kanifati, the head of the General Security Directorate of Latakia Province. “During an operation by the Directorate of General Security in Latakia Province, Brigadier Atef Najib was arrested with the help of military personnel. He was serving as the head of the Political Security Directorate in Daraa,” the Al Watan newspaper quotes him as saying.

Kanifati claims that Najib has “committed crimes against the Syrian people.” In this regard, he has already been “handed over to the relevant authorities,” which “will hold him accountable.”