Senior officer in Assad's navy and blind bombs godfather turned a refugee in Europe: war criminals

Zaman Al-Wasl obtained information proving the arrival of a Syrian army general accused of war crimes to Europe, where he resides between Holland and Germany.

The information and photos belong to Major General "Shawkat Saleh Al-Ali", 69, the former deputy commander of the naval forces, who was accused by a source of being responsible for the "southern sand massacre" in Latakia, while another source confirmed that he is the godfather of "the sea mines that were dropped on civilians."

Al-Ali visited Switzerland several times, after the military intelligence approved his travel, where the officers were placed on a travel ban list.

"Al-Raml Al-Janoubi" massacre

The first witness confirmed Mohamed Naji that "Al-Ali" issued orders to bombard the southern neighborhood in Latakia, and the "Masbah Al-Shaab" neighborhood was also bombed, and the source confirmed that he was serving under the command of "Al-Ali" in the naval command, when the massacre of the "Al-Raml Al-Janoubi" district occurred, in which dozens of civilians were killed.

The source revealed that the "Al-Raml al-Janoubi" massacre had another aspect of brutality, as the bodies of the victims that were buried under the rubble as a result of the regime's bombing of the neighborhood, remained in their place and were not recovered until several months later.

The importance of the source’s talk about Al-Ali’s actual participation in the massacre in the “Al-Raml Al Janoubi” neighborhood lies in the fact that all the published lists of those accused of war crimes in Syria did not mention the name of Al-Ali, which means that revealing his identity, his photos and his arrival in Europe with his family could lead It is a new turning point in documenting more names of regime officers responsible for the massacres, especially those whom many had never heard of.

Despite his high rank and leadership role, the absence of the name "Shawkat Al-Ali" from the list of those accused of war crimes does not seem strange, as the navy to which "Al-Ali" belongs still needs intensive efforts to document his role in killing Syrians, as this weapon has not received any Interest from those concerned with war crimes, compared to the ground and air forces.

The importance of revealing the name of "Shawkat Al-Ali", his role and his movements, in order to do justice to the victims who fell by the fire of the navy, which was a race under the leadership of "Al-Ali" and his ilk to kill the Syrians, since the early stages of their revolution, when the massacre took place in the "Raml alJanoubi, or the southern Sand" district in the summer of 2011, when the Syrian revolution was still in its peaceful phase.

Syrians killed with sea mines

For his part, the second witness, Aktham Younis, declaring his readiness to testify in international courts, said that Al-Ali had a prominent role in converting naval mines dating back to the Soviet Union, which were stored with the regime into a lethal weapon, thrown from helicopters like barrel bombs, but it is more lethal.

The source, who is currently inside Syria, added that with the efforts of "Al-Ali" and before him, Maj. Gen Talib Berri, commander of the naval forces, the regime was able to turn outdated naval mines into "blind bombs."

Al-Ali has been residing with his wife in Europe for a year, where he sometimes goes to the house of his young daughter who lives in southwestern Germany, who in turn visits Syria, in addition to the home of his two sons in Holland.

This raises the question: How did a high-ranking officer enter the countries of the European Union and his family accept him?

It is noteworthy that "Al-Ali" participated in huge naval maneuvers with live ammunition in 2012 for two consecutive times in the same year, in the presence of the Minister of Defense at the time, Daoud Rajha, the state-run TV broadcast footage showing Al-Ali while the regime's naval were exercising naval missiles, helicopters and warships.

The naval forces participated in the killing of civilians in the coastal region, including Jabal Turkman area, as they turned as a ground force to suppress demonstrations, and their headquarters were used as detention centers and mobilization of forces under the supervision of military intelligence.

The Assad regime also, after destroying most of its helicopters that were dropping barrel bombs ("Mi-8" and "M"-17"), sent helicopters of the squadron (618) to naval helicopters ("Mi-14" and "Kamo F28") in the war on the countryside of Damascus, Hama, Idlib and others within the military operations of the regime forces and the sectarian militias supporting them there.

Al-Ali is originally from the town of Hadidat Homs, his mother is Kurdish. He joined the navy in the 1970s, coinciding with Hafez al-Assad’s seizure of power. He studied and graduated from the Naval College in Alexandria (the 26th Batch), then joined the regime’s army to serve in it more than 4 decades, where he served for a long time in the 108th submarine unit "Romeo 633", then took command of the same unit, then was appointed head of the training branch in the Naval Forces Command, then raised to the rank of major general, and appointed Director of the Naval College, then Deputy Commander of the Naval Forces and was referred to retirement at the end year 2013.