Syria’s Al-Sharaa reshuffles security and intelligence leadership

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has reorganized the country’s security and intelligence leadership, in a move the government described as intended to improve security, support stability and remove barriers to reconstruction. The changes, announced Sunday and carried by the state news agency SANA, give Interior Minister Anas Khattab an additional post as head of the National Security Bureau while he remains in charge of the Interior Ministry.

The appointments also include Hussein al-Salamah as deputy head of the bureau, Mulham al-Shantout as assistant interior minister for security affairs, and Abdul Qader Tahan as head of the General Intelligence Service. Al Jazeera noted that the intelligence service is tasked with collecting information, assessing internal and external threats, and countering espionage and terrorism. Under the new arrangement, its chief falls under Khattab’s legal authority, concentrating oversight of major security bodies under a senior figure in al-Sharaa’s government.

Omer Ozkizilcik of the Atlantic Council’s Syria Project told Al Jazeera the move appears to formalize structures linked to al-Sharaa’s earlier administration in Idlib, where Khattab had roles spanning policing and intelligence. Al-Sharaa’s transitional government was formed after former President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia in December 2024, ending Assad family rule.

The reshuffle follows recent security incidents in Damascus, including a July 2 cafe explosion near the main judicial complex that killed at least 10 people, and later blasts that killed one person and wounded 36 during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit. Syrian authorities said they arrested members of an ISIL-linked cell blamed for those attacks. Al Jazeera also cited a recent interception at the Iraqi border of weapons hidden in an oil tanker allegedly bound for Hezbollah, which denied the claim.