The Long Road to Reunification: Families Search for Loved Ones in Syrian Prisons

A video reveals Ali Al-Ali, missing for 40 years, potentially identified after Syrian prisons were stormed by rebels. Thousands of families cling to hope for reunion during the turmoil, with more than 100,000 believed missing. Syrian officials deny holding Lebanese prisoners despite families' claims.

Ali Al-Ali's emotional saga resurfaced when a bearded man's video, freed after Syrian rebels took control of Hama, was identified by his brother, Muammar Al-Ali, marking nearly four decades since Ali's mysterious disappearance.

Throughout Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, Ali vanished at 18, apprehended by the Syrian army, leaving his family in relentless searches that led to despondency before the rebels' swift advances unveiled layers of the Syrian prison complex.

The upheaval has stirred aspirations in countless families, yearning for reunions with detained relatives during Assad's longstanding rule. Human rights organizations assert that over 100,000 Syrians remain unaccounted for, believed to be trapped in prisons.

(With inputs from agencies.)