On Monday evening, the Syrian regime mourned the death of General Ibrahim al-Safi, its most prominent old officer. He is one of its founders and the consolidators of the rule of Hafez and Bashar al-Assad, after a long record of crimes and massacres committed against the Syrian people from the eighties until their retirement.
According to the regime’s Ministry of Defense, the retired general died at the age of eighty-three after suffering from illness.
Safi’s body will be laid to rest at the Tishreen Military Hospital in Damascus and then transported by a military procession and an official and military presence to his hometown in the countryside of Lattakia.
Suppression of the Revolution of the Eighties
The name Ibrahim al-Safi emerged in the eighties, when Hafez al-Assad relied on him to suppress the popular movement against him, as well as to consolidate the pillars of his rule during the attempt of his brother Rifaat al-Assad to overthrow him and take control of the government in 1984.
General Safi also participated in the massacres of the eighties in Hama, Palmyra, Aleppo and Jisr al-Shughour, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Syrians and the destruction of entire cities at the time.
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.
