Mohammed Saeed Bekheitan

Mohammed Saeed Bekheitan (Arabic: محمد سعيد بخيتان‎) is the Assistant Secretary of the Syrian Regional Command of the Ba'ath Party. He has held the position since 2005. He is a close associate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad and is considered a senior decision-maker in the government.[1]

Mohammed Saeed Bekheitan
Assistant Regional Secretary
of the Syrian Regional Branch
In office
9 June 2005 – 8 July 2013
Regional SecretaryBashar al-Assad
Preceded bySulayman Qaddah
Succeeded byHilal Hilal
National Security Bureau of
the Regional Command
In office
21 June 2000 – 6 June 2005
Regional SecretaryBashar al-Assad
Preceded byAbd al-Rauf al-Qasem
Succeeded byHisham Ikhtiyar
Member of the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch
In office
21 June 2000 – 8 July 2013
Mayor of Hama
In office
1992–2000
Preceded byAsaad Mustafa
Succeeded by?
Personal details
NationalitySyrian
Political partySyria Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party
Military service
Allegiance Syria
RankGeneral

Biography

Mohammed Bukheitan is a Sunni Muslim from Bedouin origins in Deir ez-Zor, a Sunni dominated region near the border with Iraq.[2] He built his career in the police, eventually attaining the rank of general in the criminal security branch of the Ministry of Interior. From 1993 to 2000 he served as Governor of Hama, a major Sunni region in Syria. Since June 2000, he has been on the Regional Command of the Syrian Ba'ath Party. He headed the important National Security Bureau from 2000 to 2005 and since then has been the Assistant Secretary of the Syrian Regional Command of the Baath Party, the second highest position in the political party after the Syrian president.[3]

He has been described by sources as an old guard Ba'athist who opposes reform efforts in Syria, even from inside the Ba'ath party. He was sanctioned by the European Union for "his senior decision making role in the repression of protesters participating in the Syrian Civil War".[1]

References
  1. "Joint Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria and repealing Regulation (EU) No 442/2011". EuroLex. 52011PC0887. 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  2. Bar, Shmuel (2006). "Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview" (PDF). Comparative Strategy. 25 (5): 435. doi:10.1080/01495930601105412. S2CID 154739379. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. https://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/12/05DAMASCUS6394.html
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