Rafiq Shahadah


Rafiq Shahadah is a Syrian Army major general. He is head of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army's operations in eastern Syria.

Career

Shahadah is a major general in the Syrian armed forces, who served as adviser to President Bashar Al-Assad for strategic questions and military intelligence. He was appointed chief of Military Intelligence Directorate in July 2012 and replaced Abdul Fatah Qudsiya who became the deputy director of the National Security Bureau.
In 2015, he was dismissed from his role as director of Military Intelligence Directorate, following his dispute with Lt. General Rustum Ghazaleh.

Sanctions

On 24 August 2011, the European Union sanctioned Shahada and stated that he was the head of military intelligence's branch 293 which is charged with internal affairs in Damascus. The EU accused him of being "directly involved in repression and violence against the civilian population." The British Treasury also froze his assets along with other Syrian officials on 24 August 2011. The Swiss government sanctioned him in September 2011 based on the reasons given by the EU. Canada also put travel ban on him in October 2011.