Hussein al-Salama, also known as Abu Musaab al-Shuhayl, is a Syrian intelligence officer and former militant leader. He currently serves as the Director of the General Intelligence Service of Syria since May 2025.

Early life and education

Al-Salama was born in 1984 in the town of Al-Shuhayl in the countryside of

Deir ez-Zor Governorate Deir ez-Zor Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Dayr az-Zawr,'' Kurdish'':'' ''Parêzgeha Dêrezor'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in eastern Syria, bordering Iraq. It has an area of 33,060 k ...

and belongs to

Al-Uqaydat Al-Uqaydat () is a large Arab tribe which straddles Syria's eastern border with Iraq. It is the largest tribe in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Deir ez-Zor province and according to Max von Oppenheim, it is the largest tribe in all of Mesopotamia. M ...

tribe. He holds a certificate from the Institute of Technical Supervisors, and a diploma in Management and Economics.

Career

Al-Salama was formerly a senior commander in

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

. He later became affiliated with the Syrian government following the

fall of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turk ...

and was appointed as the acting governor for the Governorates of

Deir ez-Zor Deir ez-Zor () is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located on the banks of the Euphrates to the northeast of the capital Damascus, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 ...

Raqqa Raqqa (, also , Kurdish language, Kurdish: ''Reqa'') is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and b ...

, and

al-Hasakah Al-Hasakah (; / ; ) is a city in northeastern Syria and the capital of the Al-Hasakah Governorate. With a 2023 estimated population of 422,445, Al-Hasakah is populated by Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians and Chechens. A ...

. He resigned less than a month after the appointment, stating that he had refused from the beginning to assume the governorship, preferring instead to pursue a military path. He also stressed that the situation in the eastern region as a whole, and Deir ez-Zor Governorate in particular, is extremely complex, with many entities and countries harboring ambitions for it. He added that he would not be able to manage the work on all levels, and that the tribal aspect that dominates the social fabric in Deir ez-Zor has caused him great trouble in his work. Following an

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...

between the Syrian government and the

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

(SDF) in March 2025, he was tasked with overseeing negotiations and security arrangements, particularly in the context of ongoing political and military developments in the region. On 3 May 2025, he was appointed Director of the General Intelligence Service of Syria, making him also a member of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

of Syria.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:al-Salama, Hussein Living people 1984 births People from Deir ez-Zor Governorate Syrian Sunni Muslims People of the Syrian civil war Syrian Islamists Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham 21st-century Syrian politicians

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

Notes