(Zaman al Wasl)-An intelligence document described a group of Syrian officers belonging to the same family as terrorists and excommunicators. The telegram entitled “urgent and highly confidential,” was directed by the 294 branch of the military intelligence to the 271 branch in Idlib.
The telegram indicated at its start that the information included were obtained from “a source.” The telegram discussed Colonel Engineer Mustafa Aref Rahal, the brother of the retired Colonel Nadim Rahal nicknamed Abu Mohanad, both of whom come from the village of Maraayan in Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib countryside.
The document indicated that the colonel brothers are closely related to “the oppositional traitor Mohammad Rahal who is present in Sweden.” The telegram continued, “it appears Colonel Mustafa, now retired, and his brother are of the most avid instigators, funders, and supporters of the armed groups.”
The intelligence telegram indicated that Colonel Nadim Rahal paid 400,000 Syrian Pounds “to armed groups at the beginning of events,” and the colonels have a third brother who holds a rank of “discharged Captain (armed terrorist)” called Hasan Aref Rahal who is currently held by the security forces as of the date of the telegram.
After listing the telephone numbers the colonel brothers used, the telegram divulged further into the situation of the oppositional Rahal family proving once more the degree of entrenchment of the al-Assad intelligence in the intimate and everyday lives of Syrians. The telegram indicated that the brothers have a “sister or a niece who is married in Turkey and has negative activities.” Intelligence files usually use the phrase “negative activities” to describe the activities of any Syrian who has ideas opposing to the regime, who refuses its corruption and crimes, or who does not show absolute loyalty to the regime.
The telegram moved on to talk about another officer from the Rahal family, a retired colonel Manna Mohammad Rahal, describing him as “escaped to Turkey and from an excommunicator family who all belong to al-Qaeda.” The telegram added, “Manna has a brother who is a retired officer whose children were all organized within the al-Tawhid and Jihad formation, and most of whom were destroyed in the events in 2007-2008 in Misraba in Damascus suburbs.”
At the end of the year 2006, a source within the Ministry of Interior stated, “a military official of al-Tawhid and al-Jihad Omar Abdullah named Omar Hamra,” was killed by the explosive belt he was wearing while trying to cross into Lebanon via Jdeidat Yabous border crossing using fraudulent documents. At the time, the source indicated that the Hamra was 28, and of Syrian nationality. The source claimed Hamra began firing at security forces with a war gun he carried with him which led to the injury of two of them.
In the summer of 2007, Jihadist websites posted the first voice message for Abu Jandel al-Dimashqi describing him as the general Emir of the al-Tawhid and Jihad group in Syria. His message was released on the occasion of the first popular referendum which renewed Bashar al-Assad’s term in office for another 7 years.
-Arrest Warrents-
Among the intelligence archive obtained by Zaman al-Wasl, it appeared that there are more than one arrest warrant issued for the Rahal brothers among them an arrest warrant for Colonel Mustafa, another for his brother Captain Hasan, other than 5 arrest warrants for Colonel Manna Mohammad Rahal.
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