Fahd Jassem al-Freij (;
born 17 January 1950) is a retired Syrian military officer and the former
Minister of Defense of
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, took office on 18 July 2012 and left office on 1 January 2018.
Early life and education
Freij was born in
Rahjan in a
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
Arab tribe on 17 January 1950. He joined the
Syrian Arab Army in 1968, and graduated as an armoured corps lieutenant from the
Homs Military Academy in 1971.
Freij attended different courses and a higher military education:
* Bachelor in Military Sciences, Armoured Officer,
Homs Military Academy, in 1971,
* Staff Course,
* Airborne paratroops course,
* General Command and Staff Course,
* Higher Staff Course (War Course).
Career
On 8 August 2011, Freij was appointed
Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
of the Syrian Arab Army during the
Syrian civil war. In December 2011, defected Syrian Army officers reported that prior to his appointment of Chief of Staff, al-Freij commanded the Syrian Army Special Forces in the regions of
Daraa,
Idlib
Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey.
History
...
and
Hama
Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...
during the Syrian uprising.
However, on 18 July 2012, after Defense Minister
Dawoud Rajiha was assassinated in the
2012 Damascus bombing, Freij was appointed by Bashar al-Assad to succeed Rajiha.
He was also named as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces.
On 1 January 2018, Lieutenant General
Ali Abdullah Ayyoub was the successor of al-Freij as Minister of Defense.
War crime charges
In October 2023, French prosecutors at the
Judicial Court of Paris charged Fahd Jassem Al-Freij and his successor Ali Ayyoub for their culpability in a
barrel bomb in southwestern Syrian city of
Daraa that killed French-Syrian national Salah Abou Nabout at his home in 2017.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freij, Fahd Jassem
1950 births
Living people
Syrian Sunni Muslims
Homs Military Academy alumni
Ministers of defense of Syria
Chiefs of staff of the Syrian Army
People of the Syrian civil war
Members of the Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region
People from Hama Governorate