(Zaman al-Wasl) Bashar al-Assad appointed Major General Jaiz Swadet al-Hamoud al-Musa as governor of al-Hasakah province on Sunday. Al-Musa succeeds Mohamad Za’aal al-Ali as province governor raising many questions about why this extremely loyal and only recently retired officer was appointed governor to a particularly sensitive province.
Pro-regime supporters in the province center considered Major General Musa, Abu Rayan, as al-Hasakah’s newest governor, “a good and well-studied selection.”
The positive appraisal is based on the Major General’s performance as former officer in the regime forces, his previous role as coordinator with the Russian military in Hmeimim center, and that he oversaw the most recent deal that ended the clashes which erupted in August 2016 between the regime forces and Kurdish militias subordinate to the Democratic Union forces.
Regime newspaper reporters in al-Hasakah published Major General Musa’s biography and focusing on his extensive career within the air force. The journalists indicated that his selection is very important for the next stage in al-Hasakah province which is mostly controlled by the Democratic Union Party, the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Al-Musa was included in 1989 with a list of officers who were sent to Russia to receive training on using Sukhoi 24 airplanes. This Russian connection explains his presence as a coordinator with the Hmeimim center. Some observers see that he was sent to al-Hasakah based upon Russia’s request to observe and supervise the execution of the Hmeimim Agreement between the regime forces and the Democratic Union forces.
The Hmeimim Agreement dictates a ceasefire between the two side. As part of the agreement, regime forces must hand over their positions to the police and security forces, while the People’s Protection Units hand over their positions in the city to the Asayisha militia (Kurdish security) and leave the city.
The agreement also dictates a reconsideration of the position of the Civil Defense militia and the exchange of prisoners. The regime also gains control over roads connecting its areas in the city with its military companies located in Party controlled al-Hasakah province countryside.
Zaman al-Wasl previously published an article about Jaiz al-Musa entitled, “He wished God had created him Alawite… the Biography of the Commander of the Air Force Campaign on Aleppo.” The article discussed his criminal activities against the revolutionary Syrian cities. At the start of the revolution, Jaiz al-Musa was the deputy commander of the 20th Division, and he was one of the most severe officers in his demands to crush the revolution. In 01/01/2012, he was appointed as Division commander and the commander of the security area in al-Dumayr and its environs reaching the outskirts of Douma.
One of al-Musa’s first suggestions to the air force command and the air force intelligence was for the airplanes of the 20th Division to participate in exercises using aerial bombs and live ammunition in preparation for any orders from the high command for airplanes to be used against the rebelling Syrian cities.
The exercise using live ammunition was executed in al-Sabaa Biyar square in March 2012, and after it for the first time the Chinese bombs (caliber 1000) and the Russian bombs (FAB 1500) were carried by the Sukhoi 24.
At the start of 2015, al-Musa was appointed as chief of staff of the air force and regime air defense for him to issue orders to all the military airports in Syria. He oversaw most of the aerial operations against different Syrian cities including the campaign on al-Zabadani city and Aleppo and its countryside. As part of the aerial campaigns, he coordinated with the Russian airplanes based in Hmemim airport.
The intelligence archive obtained by Zaman al-Wasl revealed that a Jaiz al-Musa born in 1954 to Swadet al-Hamoud (his father) and Ghabshet (his mother) is prohibited from travelling based on two air force intelligence warrants issued in 2014 based on his position as an officer in the regime air force corps.
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