Lamia al Hariri () is Syria's former chargée d'affaires in the Republic of Cyprus who defected to

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

in July 2012.

Early life

Hariri was born in

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 ...

but originally from the

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 2594 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Quneitra G ...

. She is the daughter of the retired major general Mohammad Al Hariri, a former deputy interior minister. She is also the niece of Syrian vice-President Farouk al Shaara.

Career and defection

Hariri was appointed to Nicosia as Syrian chargée d'affaires in November 2010. Her defection was reported by

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

on 24 July 2012. Two members of the opposition

Syrian National Council The Syrian National Council (SNC), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, was a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil upris ...

(SNC) confirmed her defection on 25 July 2012.

Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...

reported that she joined the opposition. She reportedly went to Qatar and she is still there. On 25 July 2012, her husband Abdelatif al-Dabbagh, former Syrian ambassador to

the United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, also defected to Qatar and joined his wife, Lamia al Hariri. His defection was also confirmed by SNC spokesman Mohammad Sarmini. On 26 July 2012,

SANA The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) () is a Syrian state-owned news agency, linked to the country's ministry of information. It was established in June 1965. SANA publishes more than 500 news stories and 150 photos on a daily basis and operate ...

issued a statement of Syria Foreign Ministry, stating that Lamia al Hariri was not an ambassador, but a diplomat working at the Syrian Embassy in Cyprus and that her mission was to manage the Embassy's affairs until an ambassador or charge d'affaires is appointed. Her defection was significant, since it was the second defection of a Syrian diplomat in July 2012 after that of Nawaf al Fares.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hariri, Lamia 20th-century Syrian women 20th-century Syrian people 21st-century Syrian women politicians 21st-century Syrian politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Daraa People of the Syrian civil war Syrian defectors Syrian Sunni Muslims Syrian women diplomats