Chief of the General Staff (Syria)

The Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces (Arabic: رئيس هيئة الأركان العامة للجيش والقوات المسلحة, romanized: Rayiys hayyat al'arkan aleamat liljaysh walquaat almusalaha) is the professional head of the Syrian Armed Forces and the Syrian Army. The Chief of the General Staff is appointed by the President of Syria, who is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces
رئيس هيئة الأركان العامة للجيش والقوات المسلحة
Flag of the Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces
Incumbent
Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim
since 30 April 2022
Ministry of Defence
Reports toMinister of Defence
ResidenceDamascus
SeatHay'at al-Arkan
AppointerPresident of Syria
Formation1947
First holderAbdullah Atfeh

List of officeholders
No. Portrait Name
(birth–death)		 Term of office Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Major general
Abdullah Atfeh
(1897–1976)		 1947 1948 0–1 years [1]
2 Brigadier general
Husni al-Za'im
(1897–1949)		 1948 1949 0–1 years
3 Colonel
Sami al-Hinnawi
(1898–1950)		 1949 1950 0–1 years
4 Brigadier general
Anwar Bannud
(1908–1979)		 2 January 1950 23 April 1951 1 year, 111 days [2]
5 Fawzi Selu
(1905–1972)		 23 April 1951 1953 1–2 years
6 Shawkat Shuqayr
(1912–1982)		 1953 8 July 1956 2–3 years
7 Tawfiq Nizam al-Din 8 July 1956 1957 0–1 years
8 Lieutenant general
Afif al-Bizri
(1912–1982)		 1957 1959 1–2 years
9 Jamal al-Faisal 1959
10 Abdul Karim Zahreddine
(1917–2009)		 8 March 1963
11 Major general
Ziad al-Hariri
(born 1930)		 8 March 1963 8 July 1963 122 days
12 Major general
Salah Jadid
(1926–1993)		 11 November 1963 1966 2–3 years [3]
13 Major general
Ahmed Suidani
(1932–1994)		 1966 1968 1–2 years
14 Colonel general
Mustafa Tlass
(1932–2017)		 1968 1972 3–4 years
15 Major general
Yusuf Shakkur
(1926–2018)		 1972 1974 1–2 years
16 Major general
Hikmat al-Shihabi
(1931–2013)		 12 August 1974 8 July 1998 23 years, 330 days [4]
17 Major general
Ali Aslan
(born 1932)		 8 July 1998 23 January 2002 3 years, 199 days [5]
18 Major general
Hasan Turkmani
(1935–2012)		 23 January 2002 12 May 2004 2 years, 110 days [6][7]
19 Colonel general
Ali Habib Mahmud
(1939–2020)		 12 May 2004 3 June 2009 5 years, 22 days [8][9]
[10]
20 Colonel general
Dawoud Rajiha
(1947–2012)		 3 June 2009 8 August 2011 2 years, 66 days [11][12]
[13]
21 Colonel general
Fahd Jassem al-Freij
(born 1950)		 8 August 2011 18 July 2012 345 days [14]
22 Lieutenant general
Ali Abdullah Ayyoub
(born 1952)		 18 July 2012 1 January 2018 5 years, 167 days [15]
Vacant[16]
1 January 2018–1 April 2019
23 Lieutenant general
Salim Harba		 1 April 2019 30 April 2022 3 years, 29 days [17]
24 Lieutenant general
Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim		 30 April 2022 Incumbent 1 year, 174 days [18]

References
  1. Moubayed, Sami M. (2006). Steel & Silk: Men & Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000. Cune Press. pp. 41–42. ISBN 1-885942-41-9.
  2. Seale, Patrick (1986). The struggle for Syria: a study of post-war Arab politics, 1945-1958. I.B. Tauris. p. 92. ISBN 978-1850430285.
  3. "Salah Jadid, 63, Leader of Syria Deposed and Imprisoned by Assad (Published 1993)". The New York Times. Associated Press. 24 August 1993. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  4. Political Chronology of the Middle East. Routledge. 12 October 2012. p. 2038. ISBN 978-1-135-35673-6. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  5. Faure, Claude (2002). Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Culture, History, and Politics. Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 50–51. ISBN 0-02-865977-5.
  6. Gambill, Gary C. (February 2002). "The Military-Intelligence Shakeup in Syria". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. 4 (2). Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  7. Hinnebusch, Raymond (2011). "The Ba'th Party in Post-Ba'thist Syria: President, Party and the Struggle for 'Reform'". Middle East Critique. 20 (2): 109–125. doi:10.1080/19436149.2011.572408.
  8. وزير جديد للدفاع في سورية (in Arabic). BBC Arabic. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  9. Flynt Lawrence Leverett (1 January 2005). Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire. Brookings Institution Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-8157-5206-6. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  10. "Syria names former army chief new defence minister". Syria Today. July 2009. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  11. "By All Means Necessary!" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. December 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  12. "President al-Assad Issues Decree Naming Gen. Dawood Rajiha Defense Minister". SANA. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  13. "Syria's Assad replaces defense minister with army chief of staff". Ha'aretz. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  14. "President al-Assad Appoints Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense". Syrian Arab News Agency. 18 July 2012. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  15. Reuters (1 January 2018). "Syria's Assad names new defense and other ministers: state TV". Reuters. Retrieved 1 January 2018. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. "رئيس أركان الجيش في سوريا غائب منذ عام". snacksyrian.com (in Arabic). 29 November 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  17. Al Wasl, Zaman. "Assad Appoints Pro-Russia General as Chief of Staff". The Syrian Observer. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  18. "President al-Assad issues two decrees on promoting Minister of Defense to the rank Major General and appointing New Chief of Staff". SANA. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
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