The head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, appointed Major General Abdel Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim as chief of the General Staff, four years after the position’s vacancy.
On Saturday, SANA reported that Ibrahim’s appointment was made under Decree No. 122 of 2022, effective as of April 30th.
In the same decree, Assad promoted Major General Ali Mahmoud Abbas to the rank of Commander General, who had been appointed as minister of defence, succeeding Ali Ayoub.
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Since 2018, Assad’s chief of staff has been vacant, while Ayoub left it at the time in favour of his appointment as Minister of Defense.
Ibrahim comes from the village of Arzouna in the Tartous governorate, and his name has never been mentioned in recent years, it was not known which positions he previously occupied.
The position of Chief of General Staff has been vacant since 2018, despite the exceptional circumstances that have happened since 2011.
Although the hierarchy of the Chief of General Staff comes at the third level after the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed Forces (head of the regime) and the Minister of Defense, this position is one of the most important military positions, and even more important than that of the Minister of Defense, especially with regard to the commanding military forces and operations and coordinating work between all types of forces and military forces, ground, naval and air forces.
He is also a permanent member of the Military Defense Council and heads the meetings of the Officers’ Committee in the absence of the Commander-in-Chief. This comes in addition to several other military tasks assigned to him.
The Chief of Staff is also treated as a minister in terms of salary and compensation, he is usually the officer nominated to take over the Ministry of Defense later.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
