Ali Issa Ibrahim Duba (, 1933 – 21 June 2023), better known as Ali Douba, was a Syrian military officer who was the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate of Syria under

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

as well as his close adviser. Under Douba’s leadership, the Military Intelligence Directorate was the most important security agency in Syria, responsible for maintaining security within the army and safeguarding the regime.

Early life

Duba was born to a small landowning family from the

Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...

tribe of Matawira, in the village of

Qurfays Qurfays (, also spelled Qurfeis or Korfeis) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Jableh District in the Latakia Governorate, located south of Latakia. Nearby localities include Arab al-Mulk to the west, Jableh to the nor ...

in the

Jableh District Jableh District () is a district of the Latakia Governorate in northwestern Syria. Administrative centre is the city of Jableh. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 196,171. Agriculture has remained the most important economic sec ...

south of

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

. He joined the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

in the early 1950s while studying at the Holy Land Secondary School in Latakia.

Career

Duba joined the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

in 1955 and became the deputy head of internal security at the

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

branch of the General Intelligence Directorate five years later. He served as

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

at the Syrian embassy in Great Britain between 1964 and 1966, and in Bulgaria between 1967 and 1968. Duba returned to Syria and became the head of military intelligence for the

region. In November 1970, he was appointed the head of military intelligence for the city of Damascus, where he supported Hafez al-Assad's coup d'état. In 1971, he was made deputy head of military intelligence, under

Hikmat al-Shihabi Hikmat al-Shihabi (; 8 January 1931 – 5 March 2013) was a Syrian military officer who served as the chief of staff of the Syrian Army from 1974 to 1998. A Sunni Muslim, he was considered one of the few non-Alawite members of the inner circle ...

. In 1973 he was made head of military intelligence. He was elected to the Central Committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology mixi ...

in 1978, and promoted to general in 1981. Douba took part in suppressing the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

revolt in Hama during February 1982. In December 1983, when President Hafez al-Assad was ill, Duba was a member of the committee responsible for governing the state in the interim. In 1985, the Syrian president put him in charge of the Lebanon dossier, along with al-Shihabi and

Ghazi Kanaan Ghazi Kanaan (; 1942 – 12 October 2005; also known by his nickname Abu Yo'roub) was a Syrian Officer (armed forces), military officer and intelligence chief who served as Syria's interior minister from 2004 to 2005. He was also the long-tim ...

. In January 1993, Duba was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

and appointed Deputy

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

while maintaining his role as head of military intelligence. In 1999 he was pushed aside by

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

over fears that he could be a rival for the presidency, and was made to retire in February 2000. He lived in Syria until his death on 21 June 2023. EU Council Regulation 36/2012 placed him on a list of persons whose funds were frozen. His last public appearance occurred in May 2021 when he cast a vote for Bashar al-Assad in the 2021 Syrian presidential election.

Death

Duba died on 21 June 2023 in a military hospital in

at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duba, Ali 1933 births 2023 deaths Syrian generals Syrian Alawites Syrian mass murderers Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region politicians People from Latakia Governorate People of the Islamic uprising in Syria Homs Military Academy alumni Syrian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions