Ali Douba: Hafez al-Assad's spy chief and most feared man in Syria

Douba's name was permanently associated with the massive crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama and was a loyal friend of al-Assad to the very end

Eduardo Ramon

Douba's name was permanently associated with the massive crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama and was a loyal friend of al-Assad to the very end

Ali Douba: Hafez al-Assad's spy chief and most feared man in Syria

Manaf Saad

last update on 22 Jun 2023

Ali Douba — one of the veteran security chiefs in Syria — has died at his home on the Syrian coast, aged 90. Although retired for over 20 years, the longevity of his tenure at military intelligence kept his name “alive” in Syrian society, and its mere mention was enough to send shivers down the spine of those old enough to remember him and his era.

He was never a public face. In fact, few knew what he looked like until pictures of him started appearing on social media networks over the past 10 years.

A friendship that would change Syria's history

Born in 1933 in the village of Qurfas, south of the coastal city of Latakia, Douba hailed from a humble family from the Matawra clan of the Alawite community, a minority offshoot of Shiite Islam. His family had enough money to send him to the Holy Land School in Latakia, then to the Homs Military Academy where he graduated in 1955.

During his school days, he joined the local branch of the Ba'ath Party, led by a physician-turned-politician named Wahib al-Ghanem. And this is where he met one of Ghanim’s disciples Hafez al-Assad, who was three years his senior.

Al-Assad and Douba would establish a friendship that would change the course of Syrian history. They both joined the Syrian army, with al-Assad entering the air force and Douba heading to Military Intelligence, known at the time as the Deuxieme Bureau.

During his school days, Douba formed a friendship with Hafez al-Assad that would change the course of Syrian history. They both joined the Syrian army, with al-Assad entering the air force and Douba heading to Military Intelligence.

Many things seemed to unite them — from their humble rural background to their parallel career in the Ba'ath party and armed forces, as well as their mutual admiration for Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser after he successfully nationalised the Suez Canal Company in 1956 and fought off what was then coined the "Tripartite Aggression" by Britain, France, and Israel.

A slew of foreign posts

Douba's career progressed rather uneventfully until the Ba'ath Party staged a coup, coming to power in Syria on 8 March 1963. Syria's new president Amin al-Hafez appointed him deputy head of internal security and, in 1964, named him military attaché at the Syrian Embassy in London.

He steered clear from internal party politics that led to a coup on 23 February 1966, staged by army chief-of-staff Salah Jadid against President Amin al-Hafez. Jadid kept Douba abroad, transferring him to the Syrian embassy in Bulgaria – also as military attaché – a post that he held until 1968.

He missed the Six-Day War with Israel, which led to the occupation of the Syrian Golan, and, in 1968, was recalled to Syria and appointed director of military intelligence in Latakia.

In January 1970, he was named to the same post in Damascus and it was in that capacity that he joined ranks with Hafez al-Assad – who by then had become defence minister – helping him stage a military coup on 17 November 1970.

Rising in ranks under al-Assad

From heron, Douba's career would move from one height to another. In 1971, he was named deputy head of the military intelligence branch in Syria and, in 1973, took over its full command. In 1978, he was voted into the central committee of the Ba'ath Party, at the start of a showdown between the Syrian government and the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Douba was charged with destroying the Brotherhood's underground network and arresting its members, who had tried – and failed – to stage a revolt against the Ba'athists since 1964. They re-emerged with target assassinations starting in 1976 and Douba was prime on their hit list.

His name was permanently associated with the massive crackdown against their cadres, leading to a military confrontation in Hama in February 1982. Thousands were killed and the Muslim Brotherhood was successfully eradicated from Syria, at the expense of the city itself and a large number of innocent civilians, estimated in the thousands.

Douba's name was permanently associated with the massive crackdown against their cadres, leading to a military confrontation in Hama in February 1982. Thousands were killed and the Muslim Brotherhood was successfully eradicated from Syria.

Unlike other senior members of Hafez al-Assad's inner team, however, Douba was never seen in public and rarely left his office. He had no political ambition and no other life than that of his career at Syrian intelligence.

Rifaat coup attempt

In 1984, Douba sided with al-Assad during what British journalist Patrick Seale described as the "Brothers War" an attempted coup by the president's younger brother Rifaat, then commander of a special unit known as the Defence Corpse.

Douba's troops took up positions throughout Damascus, with finger on trigger, ready to shoot at Rifaat's forces if ordered to do so by al-Assad, who managed to successfully defuse the crisis by naming his brother vice-president, and then sending him into open exile, first in Moscow and then to Europe.

Douba played a monumental role in three major turning points. First was siding with al-Assad on the night of his coup in 1970, followed by supporting him in the showdown with the Muslim Brotherhood, and finally, in his confrontation with Rifaat al-Assad.

His unwavering loyalty led to him staying at his post and being promoted to the rank of "imad" in January 1993, only to be retired in January 1999 as part of a sweep that al-Assad carried out during the final months of his life, to secure a smooth transition for his son and successor, Bashar.

When Hafez al-Assad died after 30 years in power on 10 June 2000, Douba was already a retired man at 68, but he made sure to pledge full allegiance to Syria's new 34-year-old president.

His name would re-emerge after the start of the Syrian conflict, when the EU erroneously described him as an advisor to the Syrian president and imposed sanctions on him on 24 August 2011.

In truth, Douba never returned to office after the year 1999, as his health went into a steady slump that prevented him from taking on any future duties until his death on 21 January 2023.

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