General Intelligence Directorate (Syria)
The General Intelligence Directorate (Arabic: إِدَارَةُ الْمُخَابَرَاتِ الْعَامَّةِ, romanized: ʾIdārat al-Mukhābarāt al-ʿAmmāh), also known as the General Security Directorate or Syrian GID, is the most important civil intelligence service of Syria and plays an important role in quelling internal dissent.[2][3] The General Intelligence Directorate conducts surveillance of the Syrian population, directs foreign intelligence, and monitors activities in Lebanon.[4]
Agency overview
1945 (current form in 1971)
- Internal Security Forces Command (ISFC)
- Hossam Louka (2019–present), Director[1]
- Akram Ali Muhammad (2019–2021), Deputy Director
History[edit]
1945–1958[edit]
As a consequence of the French Mandate of Syria that created the modern First Syrian Republic and its structures, the country's civil intelligence services owe much to the French template which shaped their early development since 1945.[5] Civilian intelligence service called Department of General Security (Sûreté Générale) was established and became one of the two security agencies of Syria, the other being Deuxième Bureau.[5] After 1949 Syrian coup d'état, the Sûreté Générale became no more than an executive arm of the Deuxième Bureau.[5] With the tenure of Abd al-Hamid Sarraj as director of the Deuxième Bureau, which lasted from 1955 to 1958, exemplified these trends. His officers became increasingly active in both Lebanon and northern Israel.[6]
1958–1963[edit]
In February 1958, the Syrian government merged with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic (UAR).[6] The union lasted until September 1961. During that union, Syrian intelligence services came under the overall authority of the Egyptian Directorate of General Intelligence with Salah Nasr as director.[7] After its secession from the UAR in 1961, the new Syrian government under President Nazim al-Qudsi reformed security sector. The Deuxième Bureau and a reformed civilian intelligence, renamed as the Internal Security Forces Command (ISFC), started their activities in Lebanon. On 15 December 1961, Col. Muhammad Hisham al-Samman was appointed as Commander of Internal Security Forces, assisted by a Committee under his presidency.[8] Along with the Kuzbari government, he pledged to establish political liberties and to disestablish emergency laws, which never came into existence. With the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, the security services adapted to the new political system of the Ba'ath Party.
1963–1971[edit]
The renewed service was used in April 1964 to crackdown uprisings in Hama led by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and backed by Egypt.[9] On 24 March 1965, Decree No. 67 put the ISFC into a military framework with link to the Interior Ministry, thus ending the civilian control.[10] After the February 1966 coup within the Ba'th Party, Salah Jadid emerged as the leader of Syria's most radical regime to date.[11] Jadid centralized control of all intelligence and security services under Col. Abd al-Karim al-Jundi, the head of the National Security Bureau of the Ba'ath Party.[12] From 1966 to 1969, Jundi further expanded the role and power of the Syrian agencies, both at home and abroad. It was during this period that their reputation for brutal ruthlessness was firmly established. The use of Palestinian guerrillas against Israel was core of its foreign intelligence.[5]
1971–present[edit]
In November 1970, Hafez al-Assad ousted Jadid in what he labelled a Corrective Movement. The new system has proved to be Syria's most stable and durable since independence and has toned down the previous radicalism. Under Assad there has been a remarkable continuity among the senior personnel in the intelligence community.[5] The General Security Directorate was established in 1971. The service was in competition with Political Security Directorate in the late 20th century.[13] Maj. Gen. Ghazi Kanaan possibly headed international security of the General Security Directorate in the late 20th century.[14] In the late 20th century, between 1998 and 2001, Maj. Gen Ali Houri was director of General Security Directorate.[14]
After Bashar al-Assad's takeover in 2000, Maj. Gen. Ali Hammoud was named as head of GID. In 2001, Hisham Ikhtiyar became the head of the General Security Directorate, replacing Ali Hammoud, who became the Minister of Interior.[15] General Ikhtiyar was close to Bashar al-Assad's deceased brother-in-law Assef Shawkat.[13] President Bashar Assad in June 2005 appointed General Ali Mamlouk as commander of the General Security Directorate.[16]
Six years later in April 2011, the US government imposed sanctions on Ali Mamlouk, saying he had been responsible for human rights abuses, including the use of violence against civilians. Agency had repressed internal dissent, monitored individual citizens, and had been involved in the Syrian government's actions in Daraa, where protesters were killed by Syrian security services. The next month, the EU also imposed sanctions on Ali Mamlouk, saying he had been involved in efforts to suppress anti-government protesters. A Sunni, he is said to be on good terms with all of Syria's intelligence agencies – the heads of Air Force Intelligence and the Political Security Directorate were once his assistants. He is a part of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle.[2]
After the 18 July 2012 bombing of the Central Crisis Management Cell (Syria) and the death of its four key members of team, Mohammed Dib Zaitoun was named as head of the General Security Directorate.[17]