Abbas Ibrahim ( ar, عباس إبراهيم; born 2 March 1959)Government Biography
/ref> is a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

who has been the general director of the

General Directorate of General Security The General Security Directorate ( ar, الامن العام, al-Amn al-'Aam; french: La Sûreté Générale) is a Lebanese intelligence agency founded on July 21, 1921 and originally known as the "first bureau". On June 12, 1959, Decree-Law No. ...

since 18 July 2011.

Early life

Abbas Ibrahim was born on 2 March 1959. He hails from the town of Kawthariyet al-Sayyad,

Sidon District The Sidon District ( ar, قضاء صيدا) is a district within the South Governorate of Lebanon. Cities and towns * Aadloun * Ansariye *Ghaziyeh *Maghdouché * Majdelyoun * Miye ou Miye * Qinarit * Salhieh *Sarepta *Sidon - capital * Tabbaya * ...

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...

. He has a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

military science Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mil ...

and a Bachelor of Science degree in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

Career

At the age of nineteen, he enrolled in military school and graduated three years later with the rank of lieutenant. Throughout the 1980s, he took part in several training courses in the military, culminating in an infantry course in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1989. This was followed by a computer course in 1996 to stay up to date with the electronic age. He also received advanced security training in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1998. In 1989, Ibrahim became the personal bodyguard of

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

envoy to Lebanon

Lakhdar Brahimi Lakhdar Brahimi (Algerian pronunciation: ; ar, الأخضر الإبراهيمي; '; born 1 January 1934) is an Algerian United Nations diplomat who served as the United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria until 14 May 2014. He was Mi ...

. When

Jamil Al Sayyed Jamil Al Sayyed ( ar, جميل السيد; born 1950) is a Lebanese politician, a current Member of the Parliament of Lebanon, and the former head of Lebanon's Sureté Générale or Lebanese General Security Directorate. He was arbitrarily detai ...

was head of the Presidential Guards Squadron, he then appointed Ibrahim as one of the bodyguards to President

Elias Hrawi Elias Hrawi ( ar, الياس الهراوي, 4 September 1926 – 7 July 2006) was president of Lebanon, whose term of office ran from 1989 to 1998. Early life and education Hrawi was born in Hawch Al Umara, Zahlé, to a wealthy landowning Maro ...

and remained in that post until 1992 when he was tasked with protecting then newly appointed Prime Minister

Rafik Hariri Rafik is the given name of: *Rafik Al-Hariri (1944–2005), business tycoon, former Prime Minister of Lebanon *Rafik Bouderbal (born 1987), French-born Algerian player currently playing for ES Sétif in the Algerian Championnat National *Rafik Deg ...

. In 1994, when

was deputy-Director of Army Intelligence, he appointed Ibrahim as head of the counterterrorism and espionage department at the intelligence directorate. Ibrahim, like his predecessors is closely associated with

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

. However, like Speaker

Nabih Berri Nabih Berri ( ar, نبيه مصطفى بري, translit=Nabīh Muṣṭafā Barriyy, links=hh; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese Shia politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Moveme ...

, he enjoys excellent ties with several main parties in Lebanon, as opposed to Hezbollah, which has a limited number of allies and several rivals.

Previous Assignments

*1982–1991: 3rd Infantry Brigade - 4th Infantry Brigade, Education & Training Institute, 1st Airborne Battalion - 10th Airborne Brigade. *1987–1988: Head of close protection team of Arab League envoy to Lebanon

. *1989–1992: Head of close Protection team of former Lebanese President

. *1992–1993: Head of close protection team of former Prime Minister

Rafic Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen Al Hariri ( ar, رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese business tycoon and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from ...

after assuming his first Cabinet. *1993: Strike Force – G2. *1994–1998: Head of Counter Terrorism and Espionage Section – Counter Terrorism. *1998–2002: Head of Counter Terrorism branch – G2. *2003–2005: Head of

Lebanese Commando Regiment The Commando Regiment ( ar, فوج المغاوير, translit=Fawj al-Maghaweer) is an elite light infantry and is considered the first special forces regiment in the Lebanese Armed Forces. The regiment, which was founded in 1966, is also a membe ...

. *2005–2008: Head of South Lebanon G2 Branch. *2008–2011: First assistant to G2 Director. *2011–Present: Director General of General Security.

Personal life

Ibrahim is married to Ghada Zein. He has four children: Mohammed, Ali, Bilal and Abbas. He is a

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

as all other general directors have been since 1998. Before then, the position was held by the

Maronites The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the largest ...

since 1943. On 19 October 2020, Ibrahim tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

while in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

reported that he had met national security adviser Robert C. O'Brien at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

the week before to discuss American citizens held in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. The General Directorate of General Security said in a tweet that he was in good health. On 23 October 2020, he returned to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Abbas 1959 births Living people People from Sidon District Lebanese Shia Muslims COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon Directors of the General Directorate of General Security 20th-century Lebanese military personnel 21st-century Lebanese military personnel Lebanese major generals