Naji Jamil
Lieutenant General Naji Jamil | |
|---|---|
ناجي جميل | |
 | |
| Member of the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch | |
| In office 13 November 1970 – March 1978 | |
| President | Hafez al-Assad |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1932 |
| Died | 2014 Damascus, Syria |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Ba'athist Syria |
| Branch/service |  Syrian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1958–1988 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Commands | Commander of the Syrian Air Force Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces |
| Battles/wars | Six Day War Yom Kippur War Lebanese Civil War |
Naji Jamil (Arabic: ناجي جميل; 1932–2014) was a retired Syrian Air Force officer who served as its Commander from 1971 to 1976. A key figure in the Syrian military-security apparatus, his career was deeply intertwined with the political structure of the Ba'ath Party, holding seats on both its Regional Command and Central Committee.
Military career
[edit]Naji Jamil was born in Deir ez-Zor in 1932. He joined the Military College, graduating in 1954. He was then sent to the United Kingdom to study military aviation. Jamil began his career as a fighter pilot in the Syrian Air Force. He rose through the ranks and, by the time of the October War in 1973, he was commander of the Air Force and therefore commandant of all aerial operations.[1] He was also present in his function for the initial stage of the Syrian intervention in the Lebanon.
Like other Ba'athist officers, he participated in the 1963 and the 1966 Syrian military coups. He sided with Hafez al-Assad (the preceeding Air Force commander) and Mustafa Tlass in their struggle against their rival Salah Jadid, until Assad succeeded in assuming power following the Corrective Movement in 1970.
During his eight years in this position, Jamil became known as one of Hafez al-Assad's most prominent officers, as well as a Sunni Muslim personality whose presence Assad ensured at the height of his power as part of his four-man Regional Command.
Concurrent with his role as Air Force commander, Jamil was appointed the Head of the National Security Bureau which oversees and coordinates between all of Syria's extensive security services from 1971 to 1978.[2]
Jamil was strangely widely reported as being executed in 1982, despite being alive and retaining his military rank.[3] Jamil died in 2014 in Damascus.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Zisser, Eyal (2007-02-01). "The Syrian Army on the Domestic and External Fronts". Tel Aviv University. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- ^ Rathmell, Andrew (1996-11-01). "Syria's Intelligence Services: Origins and Development1". Journal of Conflict Studies. ISSN 1715-5673.
- ^ "Around the World; Syrian Chief Said to Fo il An Attempted Coup (Published 1982)". 1982-01-31. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
- ^ "ناجي جميل". ayn-almadina.com. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
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