Mohammed Dib Zaitoun

Mohammed Dib Zaitoun (Arabic: محمد ديب زيتون; born 20 February 1951) is a former director of the Syrian General Security Directorate and a close adviser of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.^[1] He is one of many officials sanctioned by the European Union for their actions against protesters participating in the Syrian civil war.^[2] On 9 July 2019, Dib Zaitoun was appointed as the Director of National Security Bureau of the Ba'ath Party. His tenure ended on 18 January 2024.^[3]

Mohammed Dib Zaitoun
محمد ديب زيتون
Director of the National Security Bureau of the Regional Command
In office 9 July 2019 – 18 January 2024
Regional Secretary Deputy	Bashar al-Assad Abdel-Fatah Qudsiyeh
Preceded by	Ali Mamlouk
Succeeded by	Kifah Moulhem
Director of the General Intelligence Directorate
In office 25 July 2012 – 7 July 2019
President	Bashar al-Assad
Prime Minister	Riyad Farid Hijab Wael al-Halqi Imad Khamis
Preceded by	Zouheir Hamad
Succeeded by	Hossam Louka
Director of Political Security Directorate
In office 2009 – 25 July 2012
Preceded by	Muhammad Mansoura
Succeeded by	Rustum Ghazali
Personal details
Born	(1951-02-21) 21 February 1951 (age 74) Damascus, Syria
Political party	Ba'ath Party
Military service
Allegiance	Ba'athist Syria
Branch/service	Syrian Arab Army
Years of service	1971–2009
Rank	Major General
Unit	Mechanized Infantry Military Intelligence
Commands	10th Mechanized Division (1999-2007) General Security Directorate Second in Command (2007-2009) Political Security Directorate (2009-2012) General Security Directorate (2012-2019) National Security Bureau (2019-2024)
Battles/wars	Syrian civil war

Background

Mohammed Dib Zaitoun was born in Damascus to a Sunni family.^[4] His father was a Sergeant in the Syrian Army. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in a Mechanized Infantry regiment in the Syrian Arab Army in November 1971 after graduating from the 3-year long officer course at the Homs Military Academy. Before taking up his position as head of the General Security Directorate, he was the head of the Political Security Directorate (PSD). He took over the PSD position in 2009 after the previous head Muhammad Mansoura was removed because of his involvement in organized smuggling activity on the Syrian Iraqi border.^{[citation needed]}

Before being head of the PSD, Dib Zaitoun had been the deputy head of the General Security Directorate during which time he was asked, along with other members of the president's inner circle, to investigate the assassination in 2008 of Hezbollah’s Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus.^[1][5]

Career

At the start of the Syrian civil war, Dib Zaitoun became one of nine members of the government’s Central Crisis Management Cell which was tasked with handling the protests and the violent crack down on protesters.^[6] After the 18 July 2012 bombing of the crisis management cell and the death of four key members of the crisis management team, Dib Zaitoun was elevated to head the General Security Directorate and his previous position as head of the Political Security Directorate was taken over by Rustum Ghazali.^[1] The two countries appear to maintain a certain degree of cooperation, particularly in intelligence matters.

In 2016, Mohammad Dib Zeitoun, the former head of Syria's General Directorate of Security, held meetings with Alberto Manenti, the former head of Italy's external security agency AISE.^[7] In July 2019, General Mohamed Dib Zeitoun, the national security chief has been replaced by Major General Hossam Louka.^[8]