Prepared by: Geostrategic Studies Team
The nature of how the narrow circle of the head of the regime deals with the tools it uses to polish its image and how to get rid of them. However, the scale of the conflicts existing within this circle and the way in which everyone who departs from it is ended with similar scenarios and elaborate media coverage, reveal the extent of this regime’s mentality and its process of disdain for those who fall into its orbit according to the rule Interest and temporary interest, the system's use of these tools while giving it a margin of fame and collecting money. While the operator continues to renew his presence and tools in the media, at a time when those tools die when their role in serving the system ends.
Luna Al-Shibl, or as they say about her, “the beauty of the Republican Palace,” was like other tools used by the regime. When her role was over, a scenario of a traffic accident or explosion was fabricated for her, adopted by a group hostile to the regime, as was the case in many previous events. Considering these characters are part of the regime’s machine, the question is: Eliminations do not take up much space among the forces involved in Syria, especially since the positions of the regime’s tools are usually more severe than the head of the regime itself, and ending their role does not affect the positions of the state and the interior towards the regime, but rather does justice to the fact that the regime has lost a new tool.
Perhaps Luna Al-Shibl is one of the most vitriolic tools in the media, and she has made many rounds of appearances through which she directed a hostile speech against those who broke with the regime and its authority in the vast areas of the north, northeast, and south, in addition to taking sharp positions on sensitive issues related to the strategic issues in the Syrian crisis, whether related to With the various political forces with the regime or those that fell out of the control of the regime forces during the Syrian crisis, Luna is accused of being one of the most important faces of the regime’s leader in waging fierce media battles against the opposition and accusing them of treason and collaborating abroad.
We do not know exactly the extent of the threat and danger posed to the regime by Al-Shibl and her narrow circle, but numerous reports indicate developments witnessed by the Luna family after the arrest of her husband, Ammar Saati, a former member of the Baath Party leadership, while he was trying to travel from Damascus airport to the Russian city of Sochi a week before the incident. The incident, in addition to Luna's brother, who was arrested at the same time. Which increases doubts and suspicions about a scenario prepared in advance to end the role of Luna and her circle, and it may be due to the problems of the regime’s inner circle with her husband, in addition to her involvement in her husband’s movements, while some reports spoke about the involvement of Al-Shibl and his family circle in dealing with Israel and providing them with information indicating the Israeli bombing of the sites. Iranian (we did not forget to verify this information). The scene then became complete, between the arrest of the husband and then the arrest of her brother, leading to the liquidation of Luna Shebl through an accident of an unknown car colliding with his car in the middle of the capital, Damascus.
It is noteworthy that Luna Al-Shibl is a Syrian journalist who was born in Suwayda in 1975. She holds a master’s degree in journalism and media. She initially worked on Syrian television and then in Al-Jazeera until 2010. Al-Shibl later appeared as a member of the delegation representing the Syrian government at the Geneva 2 conference in January 2014.
In November 2020, Syrian regime President Bashar al-Assad issued a decision appointing her as a special advisor to the Presidency of the Republic. It was included in the US sanctions imposed on a group of Syrian regime politicians and officers.
Al-Shibl became famous for her rhetoric that was hostile to areas outside the regime’s control, and for her management of the media war by directing accusations and threats, as is evident in her posts on social media pages.
Threat elimination strategy
Since the beginning of the crisis, there have been various liquidations carried out by the Syrian President's inner circle against military, political and media figures close to him, especially those who posed a potential threat to his authority from within the regime's circle. Due to the circumstances that resulted from the intense defections and the appearance of the regime in a state of great weakness during 2012 with the development of the opposition’s military formations and Western acknowledgment of support for the opposition, many reports appeared about the possibility of forming possible coups from within the regime against Assad’s rule, and at the forefront of those fears were the figures who were originally rivals within the regime. The corridors of the regime, as is the case with the crisis cell that was liquidated in the capital, Damascus, on July 18, 2012, which all reports indicate that the regime was involved in implementing it, despite the opposition’s attempts to establish the operation for itself. The regime at that time overthrew hawks who were rumored to be preparing to overthrow the head of the regime in favor of a transitional government led by Assad's son-in-law, Assef Shawkat, who was in disagreement with Bashar al-Assad. However, Assad's intelligence was able to get rid of them before they turned developments into a threat to Assad's rule. The Crisis Cell consists of the head of the cell, Assistant Vice President of the Republic (former Defense Minister), General Hassan Turkmani, the Minister of Defense, General Daoud Rajha, in addition to his deputy, General Assef Shawkat, and Major General Hisham Al-Ikhtiyar, head of the National Security Office, while the Minister of Interior, Major General Ibrahim Al-Shaar, survived.
Such operations continued over the past ten years, and Major General Jameh Jameh found his death in the battles of Deir ez-Zor between regime forces and opposition groups. According to eyewitnesses, the bullet entered his head from behind in December 2013.
On April 24, 2015, Brigadier General Rustum Ghazaleh died in mysterious and sudden circumstances in Damascus. Reports indicated that the brigadier had a prominent role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and that the process of getting rid of him came to hide evidence condemning Assad’s inner circle.
In 2017, Brigadier General “Issam Zahreddine” was assassinated by a mine explosion in the “Hawija Sakr” area inside the city of Deir ez-Zor, in 2017. He was famous for fighting battles in the vicinity of Damascus (Al-Tadamon neighborhood, Douma, Al-Tall, and others) alongside Baba Amr in Homs. , leading to a bitter journey in Deir ez-Zor and the protection of its military airport, and many reports indicated that the regime was behind his killing.
Numerous reports indicate that a number of senior officers were eliminated by the regime, such as the Commander of the Special Forces, Major General Mahmoud Aziz Hassan, in the battles of Aleppo, Major General Mohsen Makhlouf, commander of the 11th Tank Division, in the battles of the city of Palmyra, and Major General Adnan Omran, Chief of Staff of the Air Defense Department, in Ghouta. Al-Sharqiya, Major General Hussein Ishaq, commander of the air defense in the battles of Eastern Ghouta, Major General Mohieddin Mansour, commander of the 5th Division in the battles of Idlib, Brigadier General Muhammad Mohsen Khadr, commander of the 65th Brigade in the 3rd Division, Brigadier Mazhar Zaher, assistant head of the security committee in Aleppo, and the chief security official in the province. Homs, the head of the Military Security Branch, Brigadier General Hassan Daboul, the head of the Air Force Intelligence Department in Suwayda, Major Asad Al-Abdo and his deputy, Captain Ibrahim Al-Ali, the commander of the Fifth Regiment, Major General Mohsen Jameh in the vicinity of the city of Sukhna, and Brigadier General Ghassan Yahya Younis, the chief of staff of the 60th Armored Brigade, east of Palmyra.
04.07.2024
