DAMASCUS (AFP): Syria’s new authorities on Friday announced the arrest of a cousin of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad who was an official in his security apparatus when protests erupted in 2011.
Security forces in Latakia “arrested Atif Najib, who held the position of the head of political security in Daraa,” in southern Syria, the official SANA news agency cited a security official as saying.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said he is the highest-ranking figure to be detained since opposition fighters toppled the al-Assad government on December 8.
“The criminal Atif Najib has been referred to the competent authorities to be tried and held accountable for the crimes he committed against the Syrian people,” SANA reported.
The protest movement against al-Assad began in Daraa on March 15, 2011, after 15 students were arrested for allegedly writing anti-government slogans on the city’s walls.
Residents said the students were tortured, leading to a protest to demand their release that ended in bloodshed.
Najib, blamed for the crackdown, was dismissed soon after. He was on a US Treasury sanctions list alongside other Syrian officials.
The nationwide uprising was brutally crushed by al-Assad, spiraling into a civil war that has killed more than half a million people.
