Syria16 October, 20263 min read
Lebanon Opens Investigation Into Ali Kayali’s Abduction After Syria Arrests Mihrac Ural
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Lebanese authorities opened an investigation into the abduction of Ali Kayali from Lebanon. Syria's General Intelligence Directorate arrested Ali Kayali, alias Mihrac Ural, fleeing across the border.
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Arrest and transfer probe
Syrian authorities arrested Ali Kayali, also known as Mihrac Ural, as he was trying to flee from Syria across the border, according to SANA and state media accounts. Lebanese authorities opened an investigation into how Kayali was abducted in Lebanon and taken to Syria, and Lebanese judicial officials said the country’s public prosecution had opened an investigation into the case. Lebanese authorities asked army intelligence and police intelligence units to analyze telecommunication calls to determine whether Kayali was taken to the Syrian Embassy outside of Beirut or straight to Syria after he was picked up in the Lebanese mountain town of Mansouriyeh.
Syrian authorities released a photo of Kayali, who was born in 1956, wearing a prison uniform, and the arrest sparked celebrations in parts of Syria because he was blamed for sectarian killings during Assad’s crackdown on the opposition in the early years of the conflict that broke out in March 2011. The arrest also came as Lebanon’s judicial authorities had previously handed over a former senior Syrian military officer under Assad to Damascus after questioning him over crimes he allegedly committed during the country’s conflict.
Baniyas role and casualty estimates
Syria’s General Intelligence Directorate described Kayali as the “main suspect” in the Banias massacres, and Anadolu Ajansı said the killings included mass killings and summary executions of hundreds of civilians in al-Bayda and Ras al-Nabaa in Baniyas in May 2013. Anadolu Ajansı said the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria estimated that between 150 and 250 civilians were killed in Al-Bayda and between 150 and 200 in Ras al-Nabaa. Al Jazeera reported that the Syrian Network for Human Rights figures, quoted by SANA, put the Bayda massacre at 264 civilians killed, including 36 children and 28 women, while the Ras al-Nabaa massacre killed 195 people, including 56 children.
Al Jazeera also said Kayali led an armed group loyal to then-President Bashar al-Assad during the 2013 killings, and it described the massacres as “one of the deadliest instances of mass executions in Syria’s increasingly bloody conflict.” Euronews said Kayali, known as Mihrac Ural, commanded al-Assad-affiliated militia forces that carried out summary executions of more than 450 civilians in Bayda and Baniyas in May 2013.
Accountability and regional implications
Lebanese authorities investigated whether Kayali was taken to the Syrian Embassy outside of Beirut or straight to Syria after he was picked up in Mansouriyeh, and the case remained under investigation. DW reported that Justice Minister Mughir al-Ways said on X that, “The arrest of the criminal Kiyali is a clear message that there is no place in Syria for evading accountability for offenders,” while Ahmed Muwafaq Zidan wrote on X that, “We congratulate our people on the arrest by the Syrian Intelligence Agency in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior.” Al Jazeera said Kayali’s deputy Jamal Tarabulsi was arrested earlier this month, and it framed the arrests as part of efforts to capture former regime officials and militia commanders accused of crimes against civilians.
SANA said the arrest marks a significant development in efforts to secure justice for the victims and their families, who have waited more than 13 years for accountability. The arrest also intersected with Turkey-related allegations, as DW said Kayali was one of Syria’s most wanted figures and that news about his arrest led to celebrations in parts of Syria because he was blamed for sectarian killings during Assad’s crackdown on the opposition in the early years of the conflict that broke out in March 2011.