Muhammad al-Khouli

Muhammad al-Khouli (27 June 1937 – 3 March 2026) was a Syrian military officer who served as the chief of the Syrian Arab Air Force and the director of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate throughout the presidency of Hafez al-Assad.

Early life Al-Khouli was born in Beit Yashout in 1937 to an Alawite family descending from the Hadadeen tribe, near the coastal city of Jableh. Information on his early life is scarce, although it is known that he was not involved, nor interested, in the Ba'ath Party which took power in Syria in March 1963.

Career

Early service In 1964, al-Khouli was appointed Deputy Chief of the Syrian Air Force under Hafez al-Assad. When al-Assad ousted the government of Nureddin al-Atassi and Salah Jadid in 1970, he appointed al-Khuli Chief of Air Force Intelligence. Between 1971 and 1973 he underwent training in East Germany under both the GDR Air Force and the Stasi. Eventually, he gained the additional prominent position of Chairman of the Presidential Intelligence Committee. al-Khouli was dismissed from his intelligence post in 1987.