A former official in Syria’s ruling Baath party, who obtained asylum in Germany, is still operating for the Syrian regime and its security services, a well-informed source told Zaman al-Wasl.
Amal Mamdouh Ezzo, 54, who lives in Güstrow town in the province of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northern Germany, has made regular visits to Syria and has participated in Bashar al-Assad’s presidential elections months ago.
She deliberately concealed many details of her personal life and previous work in Syria, her residence alone in Germany since December 2018 with a mastery of the German language.
Ezzo’s temporary protection status in Germany is preventing her from visiting Syria but she made a visit to Damascus in 2019, where she met with officials from the baath party and political figures, according to Zaman al-Wasl’s source.
Ezzo held senior positions in the ruling party, including a member of the leadership of the Damascus branch.
Ezzo is a prominent member of Al-Quds International Foundation - Syria which is headed by Assad’s political advisor Buthaina Shaaban and has a close relationship with the latter.
At the end of March 2019, while she was in Germany under temporary protection, Ezzo attended a meeting of the Al-Quds Foundation in Damascus with Shaaban, where she appeared in a picture of her with others. She had previously attended similar meetings with the same institution in 2015, 2016; 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Ezzo supervised the assignment of women to the Ba'ath Brigades militia in Damascus, accompanying a number of military leaders to the sites of that militia, and supervising the establishment of camps to train Syrian students in Damascus to carry individual weapons and close combat belonging to the Ba'ath Party.
Ezzo appeared in July 2014, accompanied by officers of the regime's army, at the graduation ceremony of a military course (National Preparation Camp for Damascus Youth), in which 355 young men and women affiliated with the Baath Party participated.
The course included training in light weapons and close combat, in addition to Ba'ath party education, which may prove its involvement in the recruitment and training of minors to participate in combat operations with the Assad army and its affiliated militias.
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