Hafez Makhlouf

Hafez Mohamad Makhlouf (‎; born 2 April 1971), also known as Hafez Makhlouf, is a retired Syrian colonel and former intelligence officer who was head of the Damascus branch of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate. He was a member of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's "inner circle" of close supporters. Early life 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 is also a cousin of Atef Najib, political security chief in the city of Daraa. He was commissioned in the Republican Guard in 1992 and was a close friend of Bassel al-Assad. Makhlouf was injured in the high-speed car crash in 1994 that killed Bashar al-Assad's elder brother, Bassel al-Assad. Career Makhlouf was a Colonel of the Army and the head of intelligence at the General Security Directorate's Damascus branch until 2014. Controversy