Who is Ibrahim Huweija, the alleged killer of Kamal Jumblatt?

Little had been heard of Assad-era air force intelligence chief until his arrest by Syria's new government security forces

Ibrahim Huweija, far right, former Syrian air force intelligence chief, stands next to Bahjat Suleiman, a former Syrian ambassador to Jordan, and two others in Jableh, Latakia in 2019. Photo: Facebook

Ibrahim Huweija, suspected of the murder of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt on March 16, 1977, was captured by security forces in Syria's Latakia province on Friday.

Mr Huweija, Air Force intelligence chief from 1987 to 2002, is accused of several assassinations during the rule of deposed Syrian president Bashar Al Assad's late father, Hafez Al Assad.

Kamal Jumblatt's son, Walid, had accused Mr Huweija during his testimony in a Special Tribunal for Lebanon in 2015 of assassinating his father.

“Our forces in the city of Jableh managed to arrest the criminal Gen Ibrahim Huweija,” Syrian state news agency Sana reported. “He is accused of hundreds of assassinations during the era of the criminal Hafez Al Assad.”

At the news of Mr Huweija's arrest, Walid Jumblatt simply wrote on his account on X: "Allahu Akbar [God is the greatest]".

According to the Syrian Memory Project, a historical research website, Mr Huweija was born in a village in the Latakia countryside.

Information on Mr Huweija is scant and he largely disappeared from the public eye when he was dismissed from his position as Air Force intelligence chief in 2002.

However, more than 15 years later, a former Syrian ambassador to Jordan, Bahjat Suleiman, published a photo of himself with Mr Huweija and two other men at a beach in Jableh.

Mr Huweija was arrested amid armed clashes in Latakia between Assad loyalists and security forces of the new Syrian government formed after rebels overthrew Mr Al Assad's regime in December.