Muhammad al-Khuli, a Syrian military officer who for years led Syria’s Air Force Intelligence apparatus under Hafez al-Assad and later commanded the Syrian Arab Air Force, died on March 3, 2026. He was 88. The cause of death was undisclosed.
Al-Khuli’s career centered on military aviation command and the security services, and he was described as a key figure in building Air Force Intelligence into a powerful institution within Assad’s security system. He also played a role in Syria’s influence operations in Lebanon, serving as a liaison to Lebanese political actors and taking part in an Arab League-established four-member committee formed in 1977 to address the Lebanese crisis.
A defining setback came in 1987, when he was removed from the Air Force Intelligence leadership in connection with the Nizar Hindawi affair, an attempted bombing involving an El Al plane departing London Heathrow. The case contributed to a break in diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Syria.
Al-Khuli later returned to uniformed command and served as commander of the Syrian Arab Air Force from 1994 to 1999, before retiring from active service. In later years he lived outside Syria, including in Beirut after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
His military education included training courses in East Germany between 1971 and 1973, and his early senior posts included serving as a deputy to Hafez al-Assad when Assad headed the air force in the 1960s.