Mohammad al-Shaar explained

Honorific-Prefix:His Excellency
Mohammad Sha'ar
Office:Vice President of the National Progressive Front
President:Bashar al-Assad
Term Start:26 November 2018
Office1:Minister of the Interior
President1:Bashar al-Assad
Primeminister1:Adel Safar
Riyad Farid Hijab
Wael Nader al-Halqi
Imad Khamis
Term Start1:14 April 2011
Term End1:26 November 2018
Predecessor1:Said Mohammad Sammour
Successor1:Mohammad Khaled al-Rahmoun
Office2:Commander of the Syrian Military Police
President2:Bashar al-Assad
Term Start2:?
Term End2:14 April 2011
Successor2:Abdulaziz al-Shalal
Party:Ba'ath Party
Otherparty:National Progressive Front
Birth Place:Al-Haffa, Syria
Children:5
Rank: Major General[1]
Battles:Syrian Civil War

Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar (Arabic: محمد إبراهيم الشعار; born 1950) is a Syrian military officer and former Minister of the Interior in Syria who served from 2011 to 2018. He is the current Vice President of the National Progressive Front.

Early life

Shaar was born into a Sunni family in the rural village of Hafa in Latakia Governorate in 1950.[2]

Career

Shaar joined the armed forces in 1971 and held a number of security positions, including chief of the military security in Tartous, the chief of the military security in Aleppo, and the commander and chief of the Syrian military police.[2] He was the commander of the military police prior to being appointed minister of interior.[3]

He was appointed interior minister in April 2011, replacing Said Mohammad Sammour.[4] [5]

Sanctions

On 9 May 2011, the European Union (EU) placed sanctions on Shaar along with 12 others.[6] [7] The Official Journal of the European Union states the reason for sanctions against him as "involvement in violent treatment of demonstrators".[8] Swiss government also put him into sanction list in September 2011, citing the same reason given by the EU.[9]

Personal life

Shaar is married and has two sons and three daughters.[3] He is a Sunni Muslim.[10]

Reports of death or injury

On 18 July 2012, there were conflicting reports on his fate, with CNN reporting that Syrian state run television confirmed that Shaar was killed following a bombing of a meeting of the Central Crisis Management Cell (CCMC) at the National Security headquarters in Damascus.[11] However, later state TV reported that he survived although wounded.[12] Additional reports stated that he, along with the country's intelligence chief, was in stable condition.[13]

On 19 December 2012, reports surfaced that Shaar had been admitted to the American University in Beirut hospital in Lebanon a few days earlier, after sustaining unspecified injuries in a bombing. The attack took place in front of the ministry of interior in Damascus on 12 December, killing several and injuring more than 20. Shaar's injuries were not believed to be serious.[14]

On 26 December 2012, Shaar was reported to have cut short his treatment in Beirut due to a belief that he might be arrested by Lebanese officials for his role in a massacre of hundreds of people in Tripoli in 1986 and that he may be subject to international arrest warrants. He then returned to Damascus.[15]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: الوزراء الذين تتالوا على الوزارة. Ministry of Interior. 24 February 2013.
  2. News: Considering a Palace Coup in Syria. 22 September 2013. Stratfor. 8 July 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120721063720/http://www.lebanonwire.com/1207MLN/12070808STR.asp. 21 July 2012.
  3. Web site: نبذة عن السيد وزير الداخلية . Ministry of Interior. 24 February 2013.
  4. News: Architects of regime's brutal crackdown pay the ultimate price. 24 February 2013. The Independent. 19 July 2012. Kim Sengupta. Richard Hall.
  5. News: Syrian president reshuffles cabinet. 8 March 2013. People's Daily. 15 April 2011.
  6. News: EU sanctions target Syria elite in bid to end violence. BBC. 10 May 2011. 22 May 2012.
  7. News: Fahim. Kareem. Profiles of Syrian Officials Targeted in Damascus Blast. The New York Times. 19 July 2012. 8 March 2013.
  8. Web site: List of persons and entities referred to in articles 3 and 4. Official Journal of the European Union. 20 July 2012. 24 June 2011.
  9. Web site: Ordinance instituting measures against Syria. Federal Department of Economy. 24 February 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131002044324/http://www.baselgovernance.org/fileadmin/docs/news/09.09.2011.Ordinance__amedment__Syria_ENG.draft.pdf. 2 October 2013.
  10. Web site: Assad's slain aides had many people who would want them dead. 19 July 2012. 22 May 2013. The Globe and Mail.
  11. News: Top Syrian officials killed in major blow to al-Assad's regime. CNN. 18 July 2012. 18 July 2012.
  12. News: Weiss. Michael. The End of the Political Solution. 21 July 2012. Foreign Policy. 18 July 2012.
  13. News: Assad's top three aides killed in blast. https://web.archive.org/web/20130518001818/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-19/middle-east/32746336_1_assad-state-tv-suicide-blast. dead. 18 May 2013. 21 July 2012. 19 July 2012. The Times of India. TNN.
  14. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20787091#TWEET462217 Syrian minister Mohammad Shaar 'in Beirut hospital' (BBC)
  15. News: Mroue. Bassem. Syria's interior minister flees from Beirut hospital. The Washington Times. 26 December 2012. 24 February 2013.