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Dhu Al-Himma Shalish
Dhu al-Himma Shalish ( ar, ذو الهمة شاليش; 1951 – May 14, 2022) was the first cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and head of presidential security. He was part of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle. Background Dhu al-Himma Shalish was born in 1951, in the town of Qardaha in Latakia to an Alawi family. His mother was the sister of Hafez al-Assad. The Shalishs through Dhu al-Himma maintain a significant level of influence in the Syrian government and economy and are comparatively as influential as the Makhloufs who are the family of Hafez al-Assad’s wife. Shalish owned SES International, which is active in the construction and automobile import sectors. He was also the brother of Riyad Shalish, who is the director of the government construction firm the Military Housing Establishment, which during the 1990s he managed to transform into his own company. He subsequently made a fortune on construction and contracting deals in Syria involving large-scale proje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bashar Al-Assad
Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the Secretary-General of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which espouses the ideologies of neo-Ba'athism and Assadism. His father and predecessor was General Hafez al-Assad, whose presidency between 1971 to 2000 marked the transfiguration of Syria from a republican state into a dynastic military dictatorship tightly controlled by Alawite-dominated armed forces and ''Mukhabarat'' (secret services) loyal to the Assad family. Born and raised in Damascus, Bashar al-Assad graduated from the medical school of Damascus University in 1988 and began to work as a doctor in the Syrian Army. Four years later, he attended postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital in London, specialising in ophthalmology. In 1994, afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image = Iraq War montage.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: US troops at Uday Hussein, Uday and Qusay Hussein's hideout; insurgents in northern Iraq; the Firdos Square statue destruction, toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square , date = {{ubl, {{Start and end dates, 2003, 3, 20, 2011, 12, 18, df=yes({{Age in years, months and days, 2003, 03, 19, 2011, 12, 18) , place = Iraq , result = * 2003 invasion of Iraq, Invasion and History of Iraq (2003–11), occupation of Iraq * Overthrow of Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, Ba'ath Party government * Execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006 * Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assad Family
The al-Assad family ( ar, عَائِلَة الْأَسَد '), also known as the Assad dynasty, has ruled Syria since General Hafez al-Assad became President of Syria in 1971 under the Ba'ath Party. After his death, in June 2000, he was succeeded by his son Bashar al-Assad. The Assads are originally from Qardaha, near Latakia, in north-west Syria. They are members of the minority Alawite sect and belong to the Kalbiyya tribe. The family name Assad goes back to 1927, when Ali Sulayman (1875–1963) changed his last name to al-Assad, Arabic for "the lion", possibly in connection with his social standing as a local mediator and his political activities. All members of the extended Assad family stem from Ali Sulayman and his second wife Naissa, who came from a village in the Syrian Coastal Mountains.Martin Stäheli: ''Die syrische Außenpolitik unter Hafiz Assad'', Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ; p. 40 Family connections continue to be important in Syrian politics. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2022 Deaths
The following notable deaths occurred in 2022. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence: * Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent nationality (if applicable), what subject was noted for, cause of death (if known), and reference. December 25 * Chalapathi Rao, 78, Indian actor and producer, heart attack. (death announced on this date) 24 *Vittorio Adorni, 85, Italian road racing cyclist. *Cotton Davidson, 91, American football player ( Baltimore Colts, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders). (death announced on this date) *Franco Frattini, 65, Italian politician and magistrate, twice minister of foreign affairs, twice of public administration, European commissioner for justice (2004–2008), cancer. *Madosini, 78, South African musician. *Barry Round, 72, Australian footballer (Sydney, Footscray, Williamstown), organ failure. *Royal Applause, 29, British Thoroughbred racehorse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1951 Births
Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United Kingdom announces abandonment of the Tanganyika groundnut scheme for the cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory, with the writing off of £36.5M debt. * January 15 – In a court in West Germany, Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment. * January 20 – Winter of Terror: Avalanches in the Alps kill 240 and bury 45,000 for a time, in Switzerland, Austria and Italy. * January 21 – Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea erupts catastrophically, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing great devastation in Oro Province. * January 25 – Dutch author Anne de Vries releases the first volume of his children's novel '' Journey Through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shabiha
''Shabiha'' (Levantine Arabic: ', ; also romanized ''Shabeeha'' or ''Shabbiha''; ) is a term for state sponsored militias of the Syrian government. However, in the Aleppo Governorate the term Shabiha is used frequently to refer to pro-Assad Sunni tribes such as al-Berri, al-Baggara, al-Hasasne and al-Zeido. In the city of Aleppo itself it was led by the powerful Sunni Arab al-Berri tribe. The word became common in the 90s, when it was being used to refer to "thugs" who work with the government and often drove Mercedes-Benz S-Class and gave their guards the same car; that specific car model was nicknamed Shabah (Ghost) in many Arabic countries which led to its drivers being called Shabeeh The Syrian opposition stated that the ''shabiha'' are a tool of the government for cracking down on dissent. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has stated that some of the ''shabiha'' are mercenaries. Before the Syrian civil war According to defectors privately interviewed by ''The Star' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraq And Weapons Of Mass Destruction
Iraq actively researched and later employed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from 1962 to 1991, when it destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile and halted its biological and nuclear weapon programs as required by the United Nations Security Council. The fifth president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was internationally condemned for his use of chemical weapons during the 1980s campaign against Iranian and Kurdish civilians during and after the Iran–Iraq War. In the 1980s, Saddam pursued an extensive biological weapons program and a nuclear weapons program, though no nuclear bomb was built. After the Gulf War (1990–1991), the United Nations (with the Government of Iraq) located and destroyed large quantities of Iraqi chemical weapons and related equipment and materials; Iraq ceased its chemical, biological and nuclear programs. In the early 2000s, U.S. President George W. Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair both asserted that Saddam Hussein's weapons programs were still active ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WMD Conjecture In The Aftermath Of The 2003 Invasion Of Iraq
WMD conjecture in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq concerns the immediate reactions and consequences to the failure by the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the U.S.-led Iraq Survey Group (ISG) to find the alleged stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq during and after the invasion in 2003. The United States effectively terminated the search effort for unconventional weaponry in 2005, and the Iraq Intelligence Commission concluded that the judgements of the U.S. intelligence community about the continued existence of weapons of mass destruction and an associated military program were wrong. The official findings by the CIA in 2004 were that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "did not possess stockpiles of illicit weapons at the time of the U.S. invasion in March 2003 and had not begun any program to produce them." Immediately following and during these searches, many theories were put forward on how it could be possible ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assef Shawkat
Assef Shawkat ( ar, آصِفُ شَوْكَتْ, ʾĀṣif Šawkat; 15 January 1950 – 18 July 2012) was the deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012. He was the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, having married his older sister Bushra. He and three other top Syrian government officials were killed on 18 July 2012 in Damascus during a deadly bomb attack allegedly organized by the Free Syrian Army. Early life and education Assef Shawkat was born into an Alawite family in the village of Al-Madehleh in the Tartus region of Syria on 15 January 1950. He grew up in modest comfort and studied law and history at Damascus University before joining the Syrian army in the late 1970s. During this time, Shawkat married and had five children. Army career After joining the army, Shawkat began working his way up through the ranks, and by 1982 he was an officer in the Defense Companies paramilitary force headed by Rifaat al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanctions Against Iraq
The sanctions against Iraq were a comprehensive financial and trade embargo imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iraq. They began August 6, 1990, four days after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, stayed largely in force until May 22, 2003 (after Saddam Hussein's being forced from power), and persisted in part, including reparations to Kuwait. The original stated purposes of the sanctions were to compel Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, to pay reparations, and to disclose and eliminate any weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In December 2021, Iraq's central bank announced that it had paid off its entire debt of $52 billion in war reparations to Kuwait. The UNSC imposed stringent economic sanctions on Iraq by adopting and enforcing United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 in August 1990. Resolution 661 banned all trade and financial resources with both Iraq and occupied Kuwait except for medicine and "in humanitarian circumstances" foodstuffs, the import of which was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riyad Farid Hijab
Riyad Farid Hijab ( ar, رياض فريد حجاب, Riyāḍ Farīd Ḥijāb; born 1966) is a Syrian politician. He was Prime Minister of Syria from June to August 2012, serving under President Bashar al-Assad. From 2011 to 2012, he was Minister of Agriculture. On 6 August 2012, the Syrian government released a statement saying that Hijab had been dismissed. Shortly thereafter a man describing himself as Hijab's spokesman and several news organizations stated he had resigned and defected to the rebel side in the Syrian civil war. Information minister Omran al-Zoub's later remarks about "the flight of some personalities" were interpreted by ''The Guardian'' as referring to Hijab. Hijab is the highest-ranking defector from the Syrian government. Early life and education Hijab was born into a Sunni Muslim family of the city of Deir ez-Zor in Deir ez-Zor Governorate in 1966. He holds a doctorate ( PhD) in agricultural engineering. Career Hijab was the president of the Azzour branc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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