BIOGRAPHICAL DATA ON SYRIA'S NEW MINISTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000673

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR SY
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHICAL DATA ON SYRIA'S NEW MINISTERS

REF: DAMASCUS 00601

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: President Bashar al-Asad appointed eleven new
ministers with portfolio and three new state ministers
without portfolio on February 11. The following includes
basic biographical (and previously unavailable) data on new
appointees. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR: General Bassam Abdul
Majid, a member of Syria's small Circassian community and a
Sunni Muslim, was born in Bir Ajam in Quneitra Province in

1950. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1970.
During his career, he has occupied a number of military and
security posts, including a stint as Chief of Military
Security Damascus Branch. Prior to his appointment as
Interior Minister, he had served as Commander of the Military
Police since January 1, 2003.


3. (C) According to an Embassy contact, Abdul Majid is
intelligent, with an interest in IT, and had a falling out
with then-SMI deputy head Asif Shawkat. He is thought to be
close to Maher al-Asad, the President's brother. Several
contacts pointed to his appointment as a sign that Shawkat's
relations with Bashar and Maher may have deteriorated.
Another contact said that the security services felt Bashar
had frozen them out of the selection process for the new
cabinet, refusing to appoint any of the names they had put
forward, because of suspicions about Shawkat's influence.
One contact, perhaps reflecting this animus from elements in
the security services, said that Abdul Majid had a reputation
for corruption, although another contact dismissed that
charge as unfounded rumor. A contact in the human rights
community described Abdul Majid as "good and honest," a
reputation built among civil society activists in their
interactions with him during his SMI stint.


4. (C) INFORMATION MINISTER: Dr. Mohsen Bilal, from a
prominent Alawite family, was born in Burghalieh in Tartous
Province in 1944. He studied medicine at the University of
Padua in Italy and graduated 1970. He completed surgical
training in Italy in 1976. He completed a Ph.D. in medicine
and surgery at University of Pennsylvania, specializing in
liver transplantation. Bilal holds long-standing Ba'th Party
connections. His political career began as a Member of
Parliament in 1977; from 1981-1985 he served as Chairman of
the Arab and Foreign Affairs Committee. He was appointed as
Syria's ambassador to Spain in 2001, serving there until his
appointment as Information Minister. Contacts describe him
as sophisticated, with good connections in Europe and the
U.S. He has no previous experience in media relations,
according to contacts, who expressed divided views about how
effective he would be in office.


5. (C) MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION: Dr. Ghiath Barakat
was born in 1953 in Deir az-Zor but spent most of his life
in-- and considers himself to be from-- Idlib. He completed
his Ph.D. in Education and Linguistics at the University of
Texas in 1985. Contacts differ about whether he is Sunni or
Alawite. Barakat's professional career began in 1978 as head
of Scholarships Department at the Regional Education Bureau.
Following the completion of his Ph.D. he worked as a
Professor at Aleppo University and Director of the Center for
Teaching Languages from 1986 to 2000. He was later also
named the Chairman of the Aleppo Branch of the Syrian
Computer Society, a state-run ISP. Barakat has also had a
successful political career in the Ba'th Party. While
teaching at Aleppo University, he also served as a member of
the Aleppo University Branch Command of the Ba'th Party. In
2000, he became a member of the Ba'th Party Regional Command,
serving as Chairman of the Bureau for Higher Education and
Academic Research. In 2005, he was named a member of the
Ba'th Party Central Committee.


6. (C) MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND MINERAL RESOURCES: Sufian
Allaw was born in Boukamal, located on the border with Iraq,
in 1944. He is thought to be Sunni. He completed a
Bachelor's in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Aleppo
University. Allaw began his career as an engineer at the
Telecommunications Establishment in 1966. From 1976 to 1980,
he served as the director of the General Establishment of the
Euphrates Dam. From 1980 to 1983 he worked as an Engineer at
the Ministry of Irrigation, later moving to the Prime
Minister's Office for Energy Affairs for a one year stint as
an engineer. Allaw served as Assistant Minister of
Electricity from 1984 to 2004, and later as an advisor at the
State Planning Commission from 2004 to 2005. Contacts note
that while Allaw served competently as the former Deputy
Minister of Electricity, he is reportedly not very familiar
with the oil industry.


7. (C) MINISTER OF CULTURE: Dr. Riad Na'san Agha was born
in 1947 in Idlib. He is thought to be Sunni. He completed a
B.A. in literature at Damascus University, and later
completed a Ph.D. in Philosophy. He began his career as a
teacher of Arabic literature. Agha, a playwright and
reputed to be a traditional Ba'thist, then went on to serve
as Director of Programming and Drama Productions, as well as
Deputy General Manager of Syrian TV and Radio. In 1990, Agha
was elected to the People's Assembly. He later went on to
serve as Director of the Political Affairs Office at the
Presidency, advising Bashar. He served as Syrian Ambassador
to Oman, and, immediately preceding his appointment as
Minister of Culture, to the United Arab Emirates.


8. (C) MINISTER OF ELECTRICITY: Dr. Ahmad Khaled al-Ali was
born in 1950 in Homs. Contacts believe that he is Alawite
but could not rule out a Sunni background. He completed a
B.S. in Electronic engineering at Damascus University. From
1974 to 1976, he helped to establish the Scientific Studies
and Research Center (SSRC). In 1982 he completed a Ph.D. in
Arbitration and Multi-handling of signals at a U.K.
university. He remained in the U.K. to work from 1982 to

1984. Ali has spent most of his career working in Syria's
state-owned utilities sector and is considered a technocrat
by observers, although one contact questioned whether he was
really knowledgeable in the field. Immediately prior to
appointment as Minister of Electricity, he served from 2002
onwards as Director General of the General Establishment for
Generating and Transferring Electricity.


9. (C) MINISTER OF HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION: Hammoud
al-Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, was born in Hama in 1957. He
graduated from Aleppo University with a B.S. in Civil
Engineering in 1980. He completed a Masters in Environmental
Engineering in 2005. According to press reports, he has
spent most of his career at the General Establishment for
Water and Sewage in Hama beginning in 1988, serving most
recently as Director General. According to contacts, his
primary qualification for the position is that he is a Sunni
from Hama.


10. (C) MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Yarub Suleiman Badr, an
Alawite, was born in Damascus in 1959. He completed a
Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Aleppo University
in 1982. In 1991, he completed a Ph.D. at the Paris National
School for Bridges and Roads. Badr began his professional
career as a full time teacher at University of Tishreen in
the Civil Engineering Faculty, Department of Communication
and Transport Engineering, in the coastal town of Lattakia.
He later served as an advisor on transport planning at the
State Planning Commission. He also served as Syria's
representative to the Higher Committee formed by the EU to
discuss the expansion of the European transport network to
neighboring countries. He is reportedly a close friend of
Asad cousin and business mogul Rami Makhlouf.


11. (C) MINISTER OF INDUSTRY: Dr. Fuad Issa Jouni, a
Christian, was born in 1950 in Homs. In 1975, he completed
a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering in Egypt. In 1978, he
completed a postgraduate diploma in mining at a British
university. In 1979, he completed a Master's in applied
mining physics at a British University, and completed a Ph.D.
at the University of Sheffield in 1983. He later worked as a
lecturer at the Asad Academy for Military Engineering, as
well as a postgraduate lecturer at Aleppo University. From
1984 to 1991, he worked as a researcher at the Scientific
Studies and Research center.


12. (C) MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY: Dr. Amr
Salem, a Sunni, was born in 1958 in Damascus. He completed a
degree in computer engineering at a Swiss university in 1982,
going on to complete a Ph.D. in computer engineering in 1992.
He worked as a computer programmer and later as Director of
Programming at a Swiss IT company. In 1992, he was a
founding member of the Syrian Computer Society. From 1998 to
2005, he served as Director of Programming at Microsoft in
Seattle. Amr is a U.S. green card holder. Late in 2005, he
became a special advisor to Bashar al-Asad. Some observers
believe that serving as a minister will decrease Salem's
influence, as he gives up his role as personal advisor to
Bashar.


13. (U) THREE NEW MINISTERS OF STATE: Three new Ministers of
State without portfolio were also appointed, rperesenting
small political parties from among the Ba'th-dominated ruling
coalition, the National Progressive Front (NPF): Mahmoud
Farzat (Arab Socialist Movement); Joseph Suweit (Syrian
Socialist Nationalist Party); and Hassan as-Sari (Socialist
Unionist Party).

SECHE