Dr. Muhsen Bilal 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 Baathist politician. He was born in 1944, in Burghalieh, 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....

. He is a doctor, was a member of the People's Assembly where he was the Chairman of the Arab and Foreign Affairs Committee, served as an ambassador to Spain, and the current Minister of Information of 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....

. He fluently speaks English, Spanish, and Italian.

Early life

Bilal was born in Burghalieh, Tartus Governorate

Tartus Governorate

Tartus Governorate is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Lebanon, and is one of the only governorates in Syria that has an Allawite majority.. Sources list the area as 1,890 km² or 1,892 km² . Governorate has a population of 785,000...

, Syria in 1944. He received his elementary, preparatory and secondary education in the Tartous Province. He graduated from the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 University of Padua

University of Padua

The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

 in 1970, and got his Ph.D from Pennsylvania University

Pennsylvania University

Pennsylvania University may refer to one of two unrelated universities:* University of Pennsylvania, a private university* Pennsylvania State University, a state-related university...

. In 1976 he specialized in surgery in Italy. He became the head of surgery at al-Assad University Hospital.

Political career

Bilal's political career started in 1977 when he was elected to the Peoples Assembly. In 1981 he was named the Chairman of the Arab and Foreign Affairs Committee, and served in this position until 1985. He led the Syrian delegation at the 1982 World Peace Conference in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

. In 2001 he became Syria's ambassador to Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, and he held this post until he became the Minister of Information in 2006.