Names and documents have been withheld in accordance with journalistic codes of conduct and to avoid creating unlawful situations.
The Assad Republic was an intelligence jungle. Its regime not only spied on its own people, but also on its own spies and spies. The golden rule is: everyone is being watched, and everyone is required to be watched.
In this security jungle, the agencies' work is not limited to regular personnel. They rely on an army of "informants," some known, others "hidden," living among the people with normal faces and apparent jobs, while carrying out security missions in secret.
The regime's Ministry of Interior, which, according to its slogan, is supposed to be "at the service of the people," has proven with official documents that it is in the service of spying on the people. Documents obtained by Zaman al-Wasl reveal the secrets of this world—the documents are now in the hands of the relevant authorities—and recount the stories of three Syrians recruited as hidden informants by orders signed by senior officers.
Consultant Laboratory Technician
On December 2, 2013, an official letter was issued by the Administrative Affairs Department of the Ministry of Interior requesting the renewal of the contract of Engineer "A.......Y.", a topographic survey consultant, not as an engineer, but as a confidential laboratory technician.
The document signed by Major General Hamid Asaad al-Mar'i confirms that "Y." works for the Studies Department as a "confidential laboratory technician," and that the need for him falls within the "functional housing" project in the Assad suburb of Harasta, a project originally built on the ruins of lands looted from the people of Ghouta.
The Laboratory Technician Who Refused to Retire
"Y....N.", a former first assistant and head of a branch office, was retired in September 2012, but the Ministry of Interior believed that his "benefit" had not yet expired. His supervisor proposed appointing him as a confidential laboratory technician, in exchange for a monthly salary equivalent to $100 at the time, which was submitted to Minister Mohammed al-Shaar for approval.
Al-Marai's document explicitly states: "We found an urgent need for him due to his good experience and accuracy," and requests his appointment as a "hidden informant" with a salary of 15,000 Syrian pounds.
An informant even after death!
In the "State of Exceptions," the contract of loyalty to the regime does not end even after retirement. "A.......D.", a retired first lieutenant, received an apartment in Moadamiyeh al-Sham, one of thousands built on lands seized under the guise of "expropriation" and granted to regime officers and personnel.
Despite his retirement, he continued to occupy the apartment as a "hidden informant," according to a document dated November 21, 2013, which highlights another officer's request to occupy the apartment. The ministry refused because the "informant" was still in... unofficial service.
The document also confirms that the "informant" does not actually live in the apartment; rather, he moved part of his furniture to Jaramana, but continues to enjoy privileges, in clear violation of official housing regulations.
A Complex Network
The documents were not limited to the three names. They included a table showing the name "Diab..." as one of the concealed informants, working within the Ministry's Self-Administration Department, with identification number 4...14.
What the documents revealed is a small part of the iceberg that conceals a vast network of secret informants living among Syrians, receiving salaries from public funds, and rewarded with housing and allowances, all for one mission: infiltrating society and supplying the regime's agencies with information.
Zaman al-Wasl
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