°®Âþµº

Syrians are worried that some officials from the ousted Assad regime could evade justice after it was alleged that they and their families escaped to or via Lebanon, despite authorities denying this.

Since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, there have been reports that the dictator’s relatives and collaborators had escaped Syria and were hiding in Lebanon, prompting Lebanese activists and politicians to call for their immediate arrest or deportation.

The Lebanese interior ministry denied the reports, saying none had come into the country.

°®Âþµº tried to get in touch with the ministry for comment.

³¢±ð²ú²¹²Ô´Ç²Ô’s Nidaa al-Watan newspaper previously reported that some of the former regime’s figures were staying in luxury hotels in Beirut and the city’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of Assad’s ally, Hezbollah.

Ali Mamlouk, a sanctioned, high-ranking intelligence official and adviser to Assad, was among those who reportedly escaped to Lebanon. A video has gone viral allegedly of Mamlouk crossing the Al-Kabir River from Syria into northern Lebanon with others in a dinghy, howeverÌýTNA could not verify this.

He is wanted by Lebanese authorities on terror charges for alleged involvement in the 2013 bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli, which killed 47 people and wounded more than 500 others.

Following up on the story, that Mamlouk had left Beirut and headed to an Arab country, along with Ghassan Bilal, who worked under Maher al-Assad, the ousted Syrian president’s brother and head of the elite 4th Division.

Assad’s sister, Bushra, also left via Beirut airport to an unknown location along with her son, Basel. Nidaa al-Watan said she has two nationalities other than the Syrian one. Her husband, slain Major General Assef Shawkat, served as deputy defence minister and was killed in a 2012 explosion in Damascus.

But it was reported in 2012 that Bushra and her five children fled to the United Arab Emirates.

'We will chase them wherever they go'

Ranim Ahmed from The Syria Campaign expressed hope that Lebanese authorities would prevent figures from the fallen regime in Damascus from escaping, if the reports are true.

"After forcefully deporting some Syrian refugees from Lebanon and inciting racist rhetoric against them, the least the Lebanese government can do now is stop them [regime figures] from leaving to an unknown location, at a time when many Syrians cannot find their loved ones in Syria," she told TNA.

"So many Syrians are heartbroken and still searching for their loved ones in the regime’s prisons after they were opened" by rebel forces, Ahmed added, saying it was unfair and unfortunate that Assad and his relatives implicated in abuses against the Syrian people could find safety abroad.

The advocate and writer said she hoped the international community can bring these wanted individuals to justice, and help Syria retrieve stolen funds.

There are currently French-issued arrest warrants for Bashar al-Assad and Ali Mamlouk.

This week, two top regime officials were indicted by the Justice Department in Washington for war crimes against Americans and other nationals in Syria.

They were former Syrian Air Force Intelligence officers Jamil Hassan, 72, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, 65, according to American news site Axios.

Ahmed also said that regime officials could find sanctuary in the UAE and other Arab states.

"It’s unsurprising that some Arab states like the United Arab Emirates would protect figures from the regime," Ahmed said, "Ignoring the suffering of Syrians and normalising relations with Assad."

"They could have pressured Assad to stop killing and displacing Syrians, but instead they shook hands and built ties with him," she continued.

In recent years, Arab states that cut off their ties with Syria at the onset of the war in 2011 began reopening their embassies in Damascus, notably the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Assad’s welcoming into the Arab fold came despite his overseeing of the regime's killing of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and displacement of millions more during the 14-year Syrian conflict.

"All those who committed crimes against Syrians, no matter how big or small, even if they went to the moon, we are adamant to bring them to justice," Ahmed said.

Some Lebanese political parties long opposed to the Assad regime have warned against turning Lebanon into a refuge for regime officials, their families or henchmen.