Lebanese Police Accuse Syria in Kidnapping of Dissidents
By Nada Bakr, New York Times, Oct. 31/Nov. 1, 2011

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s police have accused Syria of orchestrating the kidnapping of Syrian dissidents in Lebanon, a country that has served as a haven for them since the uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad began nearly eight months ago....

In closed-door testimony before Parliament this month, the head of the Internal Security Forces, Gen. Ashraf Rifi, said Syria was behind both kidnappings. According to a parliamentary report on the testimony, later leaked to the news media, General Rifi said that he “personally accuses the Syrian Embassy in Lebanon of kidnapping Aisamy in an operation that was similar to the abduction of the Jassem brothers.”

A spokeswoman for the Syrian Embassy denied the accusations....

If the accusations are true, they show the long reach of the Syrian government in repressing dissent, as well as the complicity of members of Lebanon’s security forces with their former patrons in Damascus....

Syria was forced out of Lebanon in 2005, after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, but still maintains a great deal of influence here. It is closely allied with Hezbollah, a Shiite militant movement that is currently the single most powerful political player in Lebanon. Hezbollah, along with other pro-Syrian parties, have a majority in Parliament and the ability to bring down the government.

The government has made no public comment or taken any official action on the kidnapping accusation.....