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Hafez Makhlouf

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Hafez Makhlouf
حافظ مخلوف
Head of Damascus Branch of General Intelligence Directorate
In office
2011–2014
Personal details
Born (1971-04-02) 2 April 1971 (age 53)
Damascus, Syria
Political partySyrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
RelationsRami Makhlouf (brother)
Iyad Makhlouf (brother)
Ihab Makhlouf (brother)
Bashar al-Assad (cousin)
Atef Najib (cousin)
Parent(s)Mohammed Makhlouf
Ghada Adib Mhanna
Military service
AllegianceSyria Syria
Branch/serviceSyrian Arab Army
Years of service1992–present
Rank Brigadier general
UnitGeneral Intelligence
Military Intelligence
Republican Guard
Battles/warsSyrian civil war

Hafez Mohamad Makhlouf (Arabic: حافظ مخلوف‎; born 2 April 1971), also known as Hafez Makhlouf, is a Syrian brigadier general and intelligence officer who headed the Damascus branch of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate. He was a member of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's inner circle of close supporters.[1][2][3]

Early life

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Makhlouf was born in Damascus on 2 April 1971.[4] He is a maternal cousin of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the brother of Rami Makhlouf, a leading businessman in Syria. He is also a cousin of Atef Najib, former political security chief in the city of Daraa.[5] Makhlouf was commissioned into the Republican Guard in 1992 and was a close friend of Bassel al-Assad, the elder brother of Bashar al-Assad. Makhlouf was injured in the high-speed car crash in 1994 that resulted in Bassel's death.[6]

Career

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Makhlouf was a Colonel of the Army and the head of Section 40 at the General Security Directorate's Internal Branch (251) until 2014.[7][8] In late 2014, he was transferred to GID headquarters. In November 2014, Col. Hafez Makhlouf also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo. In 2017, he was promoted to brigadier general and entrusted with relations with the Iranian intelligence services and the Lebanese Hezbollah.[9] In 2018, Brig. Gen. Hafez Makhlouf returned to his post in the GID, overseeing import of weapons into Syria from Russia and Belarus.[9]

Controversy

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Sanctions

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Makhlouf was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury in 2007 for "undermining the sovereignty of Lebanon or its democratic processes and institutions." The sanctions called for freezing "any assets the designees may have located in the United States", and prohibited U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with these individuals".[10] Makhlouf was further sanctioned in 2011 by the United States in May, the EU in September.[2] In November 2011 the Arab League imposed a travel ban on him.[2]

Money laundering allegations

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Swiss authorities froze Hafez Makhlouf's account of about 3 million euros in a Geneva bank for suspected money laundering in 2011.[11] In February 2012, Makhlouf won a legal bid to unfreeze SFr 3 million ($3.3 million) held in bank accounts in Switzerland[12] after he appealed, saying it predated sanctions.[11] However, his legal bid to enter Switzerland to meet with his lawyers was rejected by Switzerland's supreme court at the end of 2011.[13]

Hafez Makhlouf reportedly bought £31 million in Moscow property through the financing network of Syrian-Russian businessman Mudalal Khoury.[14][15]

Reports on death, and relocating to Belarus

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On 18 July 2012, Al Arabiya reported that Makhlouf was killed in a bombing which targeted a meeting of the Central Crisis Management Cell (CCMC) at Syria's National Security headquarters in Damascus.[16] Other sources, however, indicated that he was only wounded in the attack.[17]

In September 2014, multiple sources reported that he had relocated to Belarus with his wife. Earlier in the month, Makhlouf had been removed from his powerful intelligence post in Damascus but pro-government sources said at the time that it was a "routine" move. Joshua Landis, a U.S. expert on Syria, tweeted that Makhlouf had left Syria and that he and his brother Ihab had removed Assad’s photo from their Facebook pages and WhatsApp profiles.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bashar al-Assad's inner circle". BBC News. 18 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "All the Tyrant's Men: Chipping Away at the Assad Regime's Core". The Washington Institute. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  3. ^ "By All Means Necessary!" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. December 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  4. ^ "List of persons and entities referred to in articles 3 and 4". Official Journal of the European Union. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  5. ^ Dagher, Sam (2019). Assad or we burn the country : how one family's lust for power destroyed Syria. New York. ISBN 978-0-316-51830-7. OCLC 1041615345.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Sipress, Alan (22 January 1994). "Assad's Son is Killed in a Car". Inquirer. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  7. ^ Kaphie, Anud (18 July 2012). "Who's who in Bashar al-Assad's inner circle?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  8. ^ "List of peoples". Official Journal of the European Union. 136. 24 May 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  9. ^ a b HAFEZ MOHAMAD MAKHLOUF
  10. ^ Sharp, Jeremy M. (9 August 2011). "Unrest in Syria and U.S. Sanctions Against the Asad Regime" (CRS Report for Congress). Congressional Research Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  11. ^ a b Inman, Phillip (21 July 2012). "Assad keeps it all in the family with a hoard up to $1.5bn". The Sydney Herald Morning. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  12. ^ "Assad cousin wins case to unfreeze Swiss assets". Swiss Info. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  13. ^ Jordans, Frank (1 January 2012). "Assad cousin denied visa to Switzerland". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  14. ^ Oliphant, Roland (12 November 2019). "Family of Syrian dictator Assad own £31m in Moscow property, report claims". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  15. ^ Orphanides (OCCRP), Sara Farolfi, Isobel Koshiw, Nick Donovan and Mohamed Abo-Elgheit (Global Witness) and Stelios. "Laundering Misery: The Khouri Network's Global Reach". OCCRP. Retrieved 25 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Bomb kills Syria defense minister, Assad's brother-in-law and key aides". Al Arabiya. 18 July 2012. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  17. ^ Jansen, Michael (19 July 2012). "Syrian bombing: Key regime figures killed in attack". Irish Times. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  18. ^ "Assad cousin relocates to Belorussia". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. Archived from the original on 29 September 2014.
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