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Syria Republican Guard
Syria also had a Republican Guard, which was responsible for
Assad's security. Together with the Defense Companies, the
Republican Guard provided bodyguards assigned on the basis of
personal loyalties and affiliations to leading members of the
regime and top officials. The Republican Guard was commanded by
Adnan Makhluf, the president's brother-in-law. Political allies
and associates of Rifaat al Assad, on the other hand, were given
bodyguards from the Defense Companies.
As Saiqa
A third organization, As Saiqa (The Thunderbolt), was formed
in 1966 by the pro-Syrian Baath Party National Conference as a
military wing of the Palestinian faction of the Syrian Baath
Party. Although ostensibly under the umbrella of the PLO (it is
represented on the PLO Executive Committee and Military
Department), As Saiqa was firmly under Syrian Army control. In
1987 As Saiqa was led by three officials: Isam al Qadi, the
secretary general, Muhammad al Khalifa, the representative on the
PLO Executive Committee and Military Department, and Majid
Muhsin, the head of operations in Lebanon. Muhsin was the brother
of Zuhair Muhsin, who was appointed head of As Saiqa in 1970 by
Assad, following the new regime's purge of its Palestinian
leadership in an attempt to place As Saiqa firmly under Syrian
Army control. Zuhair Muhsin was killed in July 1979 by an unknown
assailant in Cannes, France.
As Saiqa's Palestinian credentials have depended on its
ability to balance its PLO activities with the state policies of
its Baathist Syrian sponsors. As Saiqa's special units
participated on Syria's behalf in some of the Syrian-Palestinian
clashes during the Lebanese Civil War, in particular in the
Syrian siege of Damur, previously a Maronite township, but later
occupied by the PLO and the Palestinians, who had set up camps
and headquarters there. Many of As Saiqa's troops defected to
other Palestinian guerrilla groups during these clashes in early
June 1976. In July-August 1976, the troops that remained switched
sides and assisted in the defense of the Palestinian Tall az
Zaatar refugee camp against Phalangist attack. Units of As Saiqa
participated in the Syrian-backed 1983 armed rebellion against
Arafat's leadership by dissident elements within the PLO. By
1983, observers estimated that 70 percent of As Saiqa's members
were Syrians.
Data as of April 1987
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