(Zaman Al Wasl)- Bashar al-Assad put an end to the authority of the head of the security and military committee and the head of the military security branch in Hasaka province, Brigadier General Ali Thiab.
Al-Assad announced that Thiab’s duties were over in the province considered one of the most complex in Syria due to its ethnic and religious diversity.
Thiab was not only the regime’s first man in Hasaka but the godfather of most of al-Assad’s agreements and understandings with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). He was also involved in arming these militias and supplying them with tons of ammunition and equipment to ensure their expansion along the Turkish-Syrian border as a hit against Ankara.
Thiab repeatedly coordinated meetings among the regime and the PKK and YPG indicating he was authorized by al-Assad to organize the regime’s relationship with the Kurdish factions.
Those unfamiliar with Thiab's past may ask why the regime chose him from among all the intelligence officers available for this complicated task. Reviewing Thiab’s history shows that al-Assad selected the right man for the job. Thiab was an intelligence officer responsible for a part of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon during the period of Syrian mandate over Lebanon. The Valley was used by the PKK fighters and Abdullah Ocalan to receive intensive training on guerrilla warfare and how to carry out terrorist acts.
In a bid to threaten Ankara, al-Assad resorted to these same mercenaries who are considered to represent the Kurdish population which al-Assad (father and son) committed great violence and injustices against. Faced with a need to deal with these groups once again, al-Assad chose an officer with extensive previous experience dealing with and connected to the PKK.
The regime’s appointments to Hasaka province prove interesting. In the fall of 2016, Major General Jayez al-Musa was appointed governor of Hasaka placing the province’s inhabitants in a more precarious position. Al-Musa previously headed al-Dumayr air base, the most famous military airport in Syria. During his time in al-Dumayr, he was one of the severest officers and the most dedicated in his efforts to crush the revolution. Among the officers in the base, he was one of the most extreme as he famously said in a statement, “My God is Bashar al-Assad.”
Thiab and al-Musa are both distinguished in that they are Sunni Muslims with Thiab coming from the Quneitra area and al-Musa from Hama. Both of these areas suffered heavily from al-Assad’s violence and injustice. For the regime, it is rare to appoint Sunnis to such sensitive positions, but this indicates their unwavering loyalty and dedication to the regime.
In the summer of 2016, rumors (later found to be false) were circulating that Thiab was fired due to armed clashes taking place between the regime forces and militias subordinate to the YPG. The fighting threatened the regime’s position especially in al-Qamishli, and it signaled the regime might lose control over its security triangle there.
It is not known today at the beginning of the new year, with Thiab removing his hand from Hasaka, who will succeed him as the head of the security and military committee and who will be tasked with coordinating meetings with the PKK and the YPG factions to achieve the regime’s interests in the province. It is also not clear at present how Thiab leaving will affect the regime’s relations with these factions especially as al-Assad recently described them as “traitors” which resulted in several militia commanders responding violently to his comments.
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