Since 2015, Issam Buwaydani has been head of Jaish al-Islam, a group that fought against the now-ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and once controlled the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus.
Two sources close to Buwaydani told AFP that he had been arrested Thursday at Dubai airport as he was leaving the United Arab Emirates.
“We do not know the reasons for his arrest,“ one of the sources said, adding that Buwaydani was on a private visit to the Gulf country.
Jaish al-Islam’s chief military spokesman Hamza Bayraqdar on messaging app Telegram appealed for “the immediate and unconditional release” of Buwaydani, calling him “one of the symbols of the Syrian revolution”.
Earlier this month the Emirates welcomed Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa for his first official visit to the country.
Several dozen people gathered in Damascus’ Umayyad Square on Monday to demand Buwaydani’s release, urging their government to intervene in the matter.
Buwaydani took over Jaish al-Islam after the killing of its founder, Zahran Alloush, in 2015.
The group, which withdrew to northwest Syria after Assad’s forces retook the Ghouta area, has denied the allegations.
Former Jaish al-Islam member Majdi Nema goes on trial in France this week for alleged involvement in war crimes in Syria between 2013 and 2016.
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