From Albert Aji, the AP: President Bashar Assad on Tuesday reshuffled the generals at the core of his regime’s highly secretive security apparatus after last week’s bombing that killed four top officials charged with fighting the tenacious rebellion rocking the country, an official said. . . .
The government official said that Assad appointed Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, the former head of General Intelligence, to the key post of head of the National Security Council. His predecessor, Maj. Gen. Hisham Ikhtiyar, died of wounds sustained in the bombing, a government official said.
Maj. Gen. Abdel Fattah Qudsiyeh, the former head of Military Intelligence, was named the council’s deputy chief, replacing a general who was apparently fired. The EU has imposed sanctions on Qudsiyeh for his role in the crackdown on the uprising.
Assad also appointed his longtime aide and former Damascus security chief Maj. Gen. Rostom Ghazali the head of the Political Security Department. Maj. Gen. Deeb Zeitoun, who once held that job, will now be head of General Intelligence. (photo: SANA) (via Real Clear World)