Where is bashar al assad heading

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In one incident in Nawa, PSD agents reportedly opened fire on a crowd of protesters waiving olive branches. The next month, the EU said Gen Hassan was "involved in the repression against the civilian population" during the recent anti-government unrest, and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on him. Maj Gen Zaitoun, a Sunni born in , is reportedly the new head of the General Security Directorate GSD , which is the most powerful civilian intelligence agency and plays an important role in quelling internal dissent.

Tasked primarily with safeguarding against and preventing domestic subversion and organised crime, the GSD is organised into three branches - internal security, external security and Palestinian affairs. It controls the civilian police and the border guards, and has primary responsibility for surveillance of the Baath Party, the state bureaucracy and the general population.

In , he was asked - along with other members of the president's inner circle - to investigate the assassination of Hezbollah's Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus. In May , the EU accused Gen Zaitoun of involvement in violence against demonstrators, and announced a travel ban and asset freeze. The US also imposed sanctions on him later that month, accusing him of human rights abuses. Gen Zaitoun became head of the GSD in July following the bomb attack on the National Security Bureau in Damascus which killed four senior security chiefs, Syrian officials and Lebanese media reported.

Gen Ghazali is the head of the Political Security Directorate, a civilian agency that is responsible for monitoring organised political activity, including surveillance of registered parties and political publications. It also has a regional surveillance brief, covering Arab, Palestinian and Israeli affairs.

Born in , he is a former chief of Syrian Military Intelligence in Lebanon, and was in the post when Rafik Hariri was assassinated. Gen Ghazali assumed command in , and was the "implementing agent of Syrian policies in Lebanon" until the Syrian withdrawal in , according to the US treasury department. It accused Gen Ghazali of manipulating Lebanese politics to ensure officials and public policy remained committed to Syria's goals and interests.

He reportedly used his influence to ensure former President Emile Lahoud's term of office was renewed, while Lebanon's military chiefs allegedly reported to him. After the withdrawal from Lebanon little was heard of him. However, at the beginning of the protests in the city of Deraa, Gen Ghazali was sent by Bashar al-Assad to assure locals of the president's good intentions.

He reportedly told them: "We have released the children" - a reference to several teenagers who were arrested for writing anti-regime graffiti inspired by the events in Egypt and Tunisia. The US imposed individual sanctions on Gen Ghazali the next month, saying he was a high-ranking member of Military Intelligence. His appointment firmly quashed rumours that he had defected the previous week. Col Makhlouf is head of the Damascus branch of the General Security Directorate, the overarching civilian intelligence service in Syria.

Born in , he is a maternal cousin and childhood friend of President Bashar al-Assad, and the brother of Rami Makhlouf. Col Makhlouf is perhaps best known for being one of the two survivors of the high-speed car crash in that killed the president's elder brother, Basil, who was being groomed to succeed their father, Hafez. In , the US treasury department designated him an individual "furthering the Syrian regime's efforts to undermine Lebanese democracy" and froze his assets.

It alleged that he had "supported the reassertion of Syrian control or otherwise contributed to Syrian interference in Lebanon". Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in April after a year military presence. The US treasury department announced new sanctions against him later that month, saying he had been "given a leading role in responding to protests in Syria, and was heavily involved in the Syrian regime's actions in Deraa, where protesters were killed".

Their families are also connected by marriage - a relative is married to one of Rifaat al-Assad's daughters. The general, who was born in and is reported to have medical problems, has long served the Syrian regime and remains an influential adviser to the president.

He served in the position until , when he was named deputy vice-president for security affairs. The next year, the US froze his assets for "contributing to the government of Syria's problematic behaviour", which it said included support of international terrorism, the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and the undermining of efforts in Iraq.

It said designating him could "heighten Syrian and regional concerns about the [government's] willingness to accommodate an expansionary Iranian agenda". In May , the EU imposed sanctions on Gen Kheirbek, saying he had been "involved in violence against the civilian population". They are said to have discussed opening a supply route that would enable Iran to transfer military hardware directly to Syria via a new military compound at Latakia airport.

Gen Shalish is Bashar's first cousin and head of Presidential Security, an elite force. Syria has been stripped of its voting rights at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons OPCW , after the UN body repeatedly found it to have used chemical weapons in its civil war. Zero asylum seekers — that is essentially the Danish government's ultimate goal.

Now, it is ordering Syrian refugees to return to Damascus, which Copenhagen says is safe. A new report from a chemical weapons watchdog says the Syrian air force dropped a chlorine-packed barrel bomb on the rebel-held Syrian city of Saraqib in International donors have just hosted the fifth Brussels conference on "Supporting the future of Syria and the region.

The international community should not be "fooled" by Syria preparing to hold a presidential election this summer, Washington's envoy to the UN has said, warning the vote would be "neither free nor fair. Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Go to the new dw. More info OK. Wrong language? Abu Dhabi has also called for Syria to be readmitted to the Arab League. The conversation was preceded by the full reopening of a main border crossing between the two countries in September.

Iranian foreign minister reiterated his support for Syria and expectations on the nuclear deal in Damascus visit.