Former Syrian defence minister dies in Paris

PARIS: Syria’s former defence minister Mustafa Tlass, a close friend of President Bashar al Assad’s father and predecessor Hafez, died in Paris on Tuesday, his son Firas said. He was 85.

Tlass, whose other son Manaf was among the most high-profile officials to defect during the early days of Syria’s uprising, died in a hospital on the outskirts of the French capital.

Tlass “died this morning at the Avicenne hospital and will be buried in Paris in the hope he can one day be buried in Damascus,” Firas Tlass said.

The former minister, who settled in France five years ago, had been admitted to hospital in mid-June after suffering a hip fracture, his son said.

He fell into a coma on Monday evening.

The former minister’s other son General Manaf Tlass defected from Syrian government in July 2012, several months into the uprising that was crushed by security forces.

A childhood friend of Bashar al Assad, Manaf Tlass later said French secret agents had helped him escape the country.

The uprising later turned into a devastating multi-sided war that has killed more than 320,000 people.

But Mustafa Tlass long refrained from publicly criticising the regime.

A leading member of Syria’s ruling Baath party, he was close to Hafez al Assad, succeeding his friend as defence minister in 1972 following the coup that brought Assad to the presidency.

Assad went on to rule the country until his death in 2000, when he was succeeded by his son Bashar, who was 34 at the time. Tlass remained in his post until he finally quit in 2004.

Originally from Rastan in central Syria, under rebel control since 2012, Tlass was one of the most senior in the government’s security apparatus.

“He had a minor role in military strategy, which was decided by Hafez al Assad and the Alawite officers who controlled the army,” said Alain Chouet, a French former intelligence officer who spent many years in the Middle East.