World

Lebanese man returns home after 32 years in Syrian prisons

Published

1 year ago

December 12, 2024

Suheil Hamwi spent 32 years in a Syrian prison, and now, after an offensive by rebel fighters that toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad, he’s finally returned to his home in Lebanon.

In 1992, Hamwi worked as a merchant, selling various goods in the town of Chekka in northern Lebanon. On the night of Eid il-Burbara, or Saint Barbara’s Day — a holiday similar to Halloween — a car filled with men pulled up outside his house and forced him into the vehicle.

It would be years before his family heard from him again.

Hamwi was one of hundreds of Lebanese citizens detained during Syria’s occupation of Lebanon from 1976 to 2005 and believed to be held in Syrian prisons for decades.

On Sunday, freedom came to him and others unexpectedly — prisoners who’d heard rumors about Syria’s opposition forces and their sweeping campaign found that guards had abandoned their posts.

Hamwi and other prisoners left, he said, and he would soon be among the first from Lebanon to reenter the country.

“I’m still scared this might not be real,” he told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday from his home — the same one he left more than three decades ago.

For years after the night of his disappearance, Hamwi’s family didn’t know where he was. It wasn’t until 16 years later that his wife discovered he was imprisoned in Syria. Even then, the reason for his detention remained unclear, Hamwi said.

It took another four years before authorities finally told him the charge, he said: He was detained because he was a member of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party that also functioned as a militia during the 15-year Lebanese civil war that ended in 1990.

The party fought against Syrian forces and remained opposed to Syria’s military presence in Lebanon afterward.

He said he spent his first years in Syria’s notorious Saydnaya prison before being transferred to other facilities, eventually ending up in prison in Latakia. Torture marked his early days behind bars, he added, “but that stopped after a while.”

For years, he said, he lived in nearly complete isolation. He was alone in a small cell, surrounded by other Lebanese detainees as well as Palestinians and Iraqis.

In 2008, he said, his wife was able to visit him for the first time. Then she came about once a year.

Last week, there was some buzz in the prison about what was happening outside. “But we didn’t know the dream would reach us,” Hamwi told AP.

Early Sunday morning, chaos erupted as prisoners discovered the guards were gone.

“The first door opened,” Hamwi said, describing how rebels stormed the prison and started opening cell gates. “Then others followed. And for those who couldn’t open their gates, they started coming out through the walls.”

The prisoners left “walking toward the unknown,” he said. “And I walked with them.”

Strangers on the street helped guide him back to Lebanon, Hamwi said. He came into the country through the Arida border crossing in northern Lebanon, where his family waited on the other side.

As Hamwi walked through his door, it was his two grandchildren who greeted him.

“This is the first time I met them,” Hamwi later told AP, his voice tinged with disbelief.

Hawmi has visited a hospital for tests to assess the toll of 32 years in captivity. And he has to relearn life outside prison walls.

He hoped one of the best moments was yet to come: his reunion with only son George, an engineer working in the Gulf.

In their first phone call, Hamwi said, George told him the words he’d been longing to hear: “I miss you. I love you. I’m waiting to see you.”

World

Trump says United States will get uranium from Iran

One of Trump’s central objectives in launching ‌military ⁠strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon.

Published

17 hours ago

May 7, 2026

Ariana News

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States ‌would get enriched uranium from Iran, as the two countries struggle to reach an agreement on ⁠ending the Gulf war, Reuters reported.

“We’re going to get it,” Trump told a reporter as he left a White House event.

One of Trump’s central objectives in launching ‌military ⁠strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon. Iran ⁠has yet to hand over more than 900 pounds (408 kg) ⁠of highly enriched uranium.

World

Trump says Iran “should wave the white flag of surrender”

When asked ⁠what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: “Well, you’ll find out, because I’ll ⁠let you know … They know what not to do.”

Published

2 days ago

May 6, 2026

Ariana News

President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed Iran’s military capability and said Tehran “should wave ‌the white flag of surrender” but is too proud to do so, Reuters reported.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Iran’s military has been reduced to firing “peashooters” and ⁠that Tehran privately wants to make a deal despite its public sabre-rattling.

“They play games, but let me just tell you, they want to make a deal. And who wouldn’t, when your military is totally gone?” he said.

Trump heaped praise on the U.S. blockade of Iranian ‌ports ⁠in the region. “It’s like a piece of steel. Nobody’s going to challenge the blockade. And I think it’s working out very well,” he said, read the report.

When asked ⁠what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: “Well, you’ll find out, because I’ll ⁠let you know … They know what not to do.”

Trump said Iran “should save the white ⁠flag of surrender.”

“If this were a fight, they’d stop it,” said Trump.

World

Secret Service says it exchanged gunfire with armed suspect near White House

The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.

Published

3 days ago

May 5, 2026

Ariana News

The ‌U.S. Secret Service said on Monday its officers confronted an armed and “suspicious individual” near the White House who later fired at them before fleeing on foot and being shot by law enforcement, Reuters reported.

The incident led to a brief lockdown at the White House.

Agents patrolling the outer perimeter of the White House complex identified a person who Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said ⁠was a “suspicious individual that appeared to have a firearm.”

He briefly fled on foot after being approached by Secret Service officers and fired in their direction, Quinn said at a press conference.

Secret Service then fired at the suspect who was hit and subsequently hospitalized, Quinn added.

Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade transited through the area “not long before” the incident, Quinn said. There was no indication that the suspect intended to approach Vance’s motorcade, the Secret Service deputy director said.

A juvenile bystander was hit by the suspect but did not receive any life-threatening injuries and was being treated at a hospital, ‌Quinn ⁠added.

Agents observed “visual print of a firearm” in considering the individual’s behavior as suspicious when he was spotted, Quinn told reporters.

The suspect was not on the White House property, Quinn said.

Law enforcement have been on alert in recent days in the U.S. capital following a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner late last month ⁠over which a man has been arrested, read the report.

Quinn was asked if Monday’s incident was linked to “other recent attempts” on President Donald Trump’s life. Trump was in the White House when this incident unfolded.

“Whether or not it was directed ⁠to the president or not, I don’t know but we will find out,” Quinn said.

The Secret Service deputy director confirmed that a weapon was recovered from the suspect but did not elaborate.

The ⁠Secret Service said earlier its personnel were on the scene of the officer-involved shooting at 15th Street and Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C.

The DC Police Department was handling the probe.