Mohammed Saeed Bekheitan ( ar, محمد سعيد بخيتان; 1945 – 11 March 2022) was a Syrian politician who was the Assistant Secretary of the Syrian Regional Command of the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...

. He held the position since 2005. He was a close associate of Syrian President

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 ...

and his brother

Maher al-Assad Maher al-Assad ( ar, مَاهِرُ ٱلْأَسَدِ, Māhir al-ʾAsad, born 8 December 1967) is a Syrian general and commander of the Republican Guard and the army's elite Fourth Armoured Division, which together with Syria's secret police ...

and was considered a senior decision-maker in the government.

Biography

Bukheitan was a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

from

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

origins in

Deir ez-Zor , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title = Ethnicities , population_blank1 = , population_blank2_title = Religions , population_blank2 = ...

, a Sunni dominated region near the border with Iraq. He built his career in the police, eventually attaining the rank of general in the criminal security branch of the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. From 1993 to 2000 he served as Governor of

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

, a major Sunni region in Syria. Since June 2000, he has been on the Regional Command of the Syrian Ba'ath Party. He headed the important National Security Bureau from 2000 to 2005 and since then has been the Assistant Secretary of the Syrian Regional Command of the Baath Party, the second highest position in the political party after the Syrian president. Bekheitan was described by sources as an old guard Ba'athist who opposed reform efforts in Syria, even from inside the Ba'ath party. He was sanctioned by the European Union for "his senior decision making role in the repression of protesters participating in the Syrian Civil War". He died on 11 March 2022.

References

1945 births 2022 deaths Members of the Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region People of the Syrian civil war Syrian Sunni Muslims Survivors of terrorist attacks People from Deir ez-Zor {{Syria-politician-stub