Hafez Makhlouf
| Hafez Makhlouf حافظ مخلوف |
|
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 April 1971 Damascus, Syria |
| Nationality | Syrian |
| Political party | Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party |
| Religion | Alawite |
| Military service | |
| Years of service | 1992-2014 |
| Rank |
 Colonel
|
Hafez Makhlouf (Arabic: حافظ مخلوف; born 2 April 1971) is a Syrian former intelligence officer who was head of the internal branch of the General Security Directorate, Syria's civilian intelligence agency. He was a member of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's "inner circle" of close supporters.
Makhlouf was born in Damascus on 2 April 1971. He is the maternal cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the brother of Rami Makhlouf, Syria's leading businessman. He was commissioned in the Republican Guard in 1992 and was a close friend of Bassel al-Assad. Hafez Makhlouf is perhaps best known for being one of the two survivors of the high-speed car crash in 1994 that killed Bashar al-Assad's elder brother, Bassel al-Assad, who was being groomed to succeed their father, Hafez al-Assad.
Makhlouf was a Colonel of the Army and the head of intelligence at the General Security Directorate's Damascus branch until 2014.
Makhlouf was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury in 2007 for "undermining the sovereignty of Lebanon or its democratic processes and institutions." The sanctions called for freezing "any assets the designees may have located in the United States", and prohibited U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with these individuals". In May 2011, the EU imposed sanctions against Makhlouf, saying he was an "associate of Maher Assad" who "bankrolls the regime allowing violence against demonstrators" and had been "involved in violence against demonstrators" as head of the GSD's Damascus branch. The US treasury department also announced new sanctions against him in May 2011, stating that Makhlouf had been "given a leading role in responding to protests in Syria, and was heavily involved in the Syrian government's actions in Deraa, where protesters were killed". Opposition activists argued that Makhlouf enjoys greater influence over the president than the head of the General Security Directorate, Ali Mamlouk.
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