Hafez Mohamad Makhlouf ( ar, حافظ مخلوف‎; born 2 April 1971), also known as Hafez Makhlouf, is a retired Syrian colonel and former intelligence officer who was head of the Damascus branch of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate. He was a member of Syrian president

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

's "inner circle" of close supporters.

Early life

Makhlouf was born in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

on 2 April 1971. He is the maternal cousin of Syrian president

and the brother of

Rami Makhlouf Rami Makhlouf ( ar, رَامِي مَخْلُوف, Rāmī Maḫlūf; born 10 July 1969) is a Syrian businessman and the maternal cousin of president Bashar al-Assad. At the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, he was considered to be Syr ...

, Syria's leading businessman. He is also a cousin of

Atef Najib Atef Najib ( ar, عاطف نجيب; born 1964/1965) was a Syrian officer and the political security Political security is one of five sectors of analysis under the framework of the Copenhagen School of security studies. Within policy circles polit ...

political security Political security is one of five sectors of analysis under the framework of the Copenhagen School of security studies. Within policy circles political security is part of a human security agenda. The 1994 Human Development Report (HDR) set out th ...

chief in the city of

Daraa Daraa ( ar, دَرْعَا, Darʿā, Levantine Arabic: , also Darʿā, Dara’a, Deraa, Dera'a, Dera, Derʿā and Edrei; means "''fortress''", compare Dura-Europos) is a city in southwestern Syria, located about north of the border with Jord ...

. He was commissioned in the

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wi ...

in 1992 and was a close friend of Bassel al-Assad. Makhlouf was injured in the high-speed car crash in 1994 that killed Bashar al-Assad's elder brother, Bassel al-Assad.

Career

Makhlouf was a Colonel of the Army and the head of intelligence at the General Security Directorate's Damascus branch until 2014.

Controversy

Sanctions

Makhlouf was sanctioned by the

US Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

in 2007 for "undermining the sovereignty of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

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". Makhlouf was further sanctioned in 2011 by the United States in May, the EU in September. In November 2011 the Arab League imposed a travel ban on him.

Money laundering allegations

Swiss authorities froze Hafez Makhlouf's account of about 3 million euros in a

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

bank for suspected money laundering in 2011. In February 2012, Makhlouf won a legal bid to unfreeze SFr 3 million ($3.3 million) held in bank accounts in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

after he appealed, saying it predated sanctions. However, his legal bid to enter Switzerland to meet with his lawyers was rejected by Switzerland's supreme court at the end of 2011. Hafez Makhlouf reportedly bought £31 million in Moscow property through the financing network of Syrian-Russian businessman Mudalal Khoury.

Reports on death, and relocating to Belarus

On 18 July 2012,

Al Arabiya Arabiya ( ar, العربية, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC. The channel is a fl ...

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. Other sources, however, indicated that he was only wounded in the attack. In September 2014, multiple sources reported that he had relocated to

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

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 Joshua M. Landis (born May 14, 1957) is an American academic who specializes in the Middle East and is an expert on Syria. He is the head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, and since 2004, he has published the blog ...

, 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makhlouf, Hafez Syrian colonels 1971 births Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region politicians Assad family Politicians from Damascus People of the Syrian civil war Survivors of terrorist attacks Living people People named in the Panama Papers Syrian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Syrian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions