The Syrian Embassy in Beirut has abruptly suspended its consular services indefinitely following reports implicating the diplomatic mission in the forgery of passports for members of the Assad family.

The passports in question were reportedly used by Rasha Khuzam, the wife of Douraid al-Assad, and their daughter, Shams al-Assad, who were detained at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport while attempting to travel to Cairo. The forged documents were allegedly issued by the Syrian Embassy in Beirut with the assistance of an embassy staff member.

Sources cited by Al-Modon indicated that Khuzam and her daughter entered Lebanon via illegal border crossings, after their passports had expired. They reportedly paid large sums to be smuggled into the country, bypassing official border checks.

The two women stayed in Beirut for several days before obtaining falsified passports from the Syrian embassy, where the expiration dates on the documents were altered. However, upon presenting the forged passports at the airport, General Security officials detected the discrepancies, leading to their arrest.

Lebanese judicial authorities have confirmed that Khuzam and her daughter remain in custody under the supervision of Public Prosecutor Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar. While no prior criminal records have been found for the two women, they face charges of using forged documents—a serious offense under Lebanese law.

The case has been referred to the Court of Appeals for further investigation. Authorities are also working to determine whether the detainees are wanted by Syrian courts.

Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the embassy in Beirut to suspend all consular operations while it investigates the forgery claims. Internal probes are underway to determine whether other members of the Assad family or other individuals have used the embassy’s resources to acquire fraudulent travel documents.

Judicial sources in Lebanon indicated that Syrian authorities have yet to provide an official list of individuals wanted by the Syrian judiciary, complicating Lebanon’s ability to act beyond cases of illegal entry or document forgery.

However, Lebanon’s judiciary has acted on international notices, including an Interpol alert, initiated by the United States, requesting the arrest of Syrian Air Force Intelligence Chief Major General Jamil Hassan. The latter is accused of directing the use of barrel bombs during the Syrian civil war, which caused widespread civilian casualties.