Egypt, Syria
Hossam Louka's star ascends within Syrian intelligence

The Intelligence Gazette
Hossam Louka in Riyadh, State Department's generosity to Chisinau, France's Zahra center

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community from Riyadh to Washington, and Paris to Tehran.

Syria/Saudi ArabiaHossam Louka pops up in Riyadh.

United States/MoldovaChisinau biggest receiver of US fund to counter Russian influence.

France/IranFormer pro-Iranian Centre Zahra France official fails to block asset freeze.

Syria, Turkey
Turkish and Syrian spy chiefs Hakan Fidan and Ali Mamlouk talk again at Russia's initiative

Keen to play the role of mediator between Turkey and Syria, Russia sponsored a new meeting between the spy chiefs of the two countries, which have been at daggers drawn since 2011. The results were not convincing but the meeting at least allowed Ankara and Damascus to set out their demands.

Spotlight | Syria
Spymaster Ali Mamlouk has slipped from public view

Syria's spymaster in chief during the civil war, Ali Mamlouk, has been active in all the country's intelligence campaigns since 2012, both internal and external. Although no official announcement has been made and there has been no major incident, he looks to have been sidelined in favour of rising star Hussam Luka.

Spotlight | Iraq, Syria
Syrian and Iraqi spymasters share challenge of cross-border insecurity

Determined to make the road between Baghdad and Damascus a prosperous trading route, the Syrian and Iraqi authorities are very aware of the need to secure their border in the light of continued sporadic attacks from the Islamic State group.

Syria
Spymaster Hussam Luka given mission to conquer eastern Syria

Lauded for crushing the last flutters of rebellion in southern Syria, Hussam Luka, the head of Bashar al-Assad's general intelligence service, has been instructed to apply the same methods in the east of the country, betweeen two foreign assignments, paving the way for him to be put in charge of strategic Kurdish matters.

Jordan
GID chief plays key role in restoring Jordan's diplomatic relations with Syria

Under King Abdullah II's instructions, Jordan's intelligence chief Ahmed Husni began working to restore diplomatic relations with neighbouring Syria back in 2019. After the first formal contacts between the two countries on 3 October, Jordan's next goal is to get Syria back into the Arab League.

Iraq, Syria, Turkey
Fidan and Mamlouk to thrash out Turkish-Syrian business in Baghdad

Turkey and Syria's spymasters are due to meet in Baghdad later this month to tackle bilateral sticking points such as the refugee crisis, the Kurds, and the situation in Idlib, under the watchful eye of the region's new mediator, Iraq's prime minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi.

Syria
Military and air force intelligence services at daggers drawn in the south

As a result of the most violent clashes since 2018 breaking out in southern Syria, the rivalry between Russia and Iran, which was already present in the area, has reemerged. It is being compounded by the tensions between Syria's military and air force intelligence services which have each chosen a different camp to support.