Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 Ali Habib Mahmud is a Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

n military officer who served as Syria's Minister of Defense from June 2009 until August 2011. He was a part of Assad's inner circle.

Early life, education and career

He was born 1939 in Tartus and joined the army in 1959. In 1962 he graduated from the military academy. He fought in the 1973 October War against Israel and led forces against Israeli troops invading Lebanon in 1982. He also participated in the Gulf War as part of the international coalition to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's Iraq. In 1994 he was appointed commander of the Special Forces until he was appointed deputy chief of staff in 2002. In 2004 he was appointed chief of General Staff of the Army and the armed forces. On 3 June 2009, President Bashar al-Assad

Bashar al-Assad

Bashar al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000. Al-Assad was elected in 2000, re-elected in 2007, unopposed each time.- Early Life :...

 appointed Mahmud as defense minister.

In May 2011, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 accused Habib of human rights abuses, and announced a travel ban and asset freeze.

External links

• Ministry of Defense official government website