Ali Mamlouk appeared in the Russian capital, Moscow, during a meeting with Russian officials, for the first time since news about the deterioration of his health condition, his assassination, or his removal from the political and security decision-making circle in the Syrian regime at the beginning of this year.

The official Syrian news agency (SANA) reported that the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, held talks in Moscow on Monday, April 22, with Mamlouk who was identified as the National Security Adviser in the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic.

Mamlouk spoke about the firmly rooted bilateral relations between the Syrian regime and Russia, emphasizing the importance of continuing the joint coordination to strengthen these relations.

Mamlouk stated that Syria “withstood” thanks to the sacrifices of the regime forces and the support of Russia, which “foiled all the schemes that were sought to be implemented by terrorist organizations with the backing of their financiers and operators,” reaffirming Syria’s full support and endorsement of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

Major General Mamlouk arrived in Moscow to participate in the 12th St. Petersburg International Conference of High Representatives for Security Affairs, which is taking place in St. Petersburg between the 23rd and 25th of April.

The Russian site “Gazeta.ru” mentioned, quoting the Russian agency “Novosti” in January, that Ali Mamlouk was hospitalized due to health issues, without any clarification from the regime regarding his condition.

This came after days of announcing the appointment of the former head of military intelligence, Kifah Milhem, as the head of the National Security Office, succeeding Mamlouk, who was appointed as the security advisor to Bashar al-Assad.

Rumors also spread on social media platforms months ago about the killing of Ali Mamlouk on the Dummar-Damascus road, accompanied by a Russian officer, and the opposition SNA news agency mentioned that political sources confirmed to them that they do not rule out the killing of Mamlouk, Russia’s primary man and the executor of its projects, who was being prepared for a forthcoming stage and was being groomed for a political role in Syria.

The agency reported that Mamlouk was in disagreement with the Iranian direction in Syria and that the appointments made by the regime at the beginning of this year were in the context of restructuring these security apparatuses under Russian supervision.

Since the news that talked about Mamlouk’s health problems or his death, he did not appear again through the media, which raised more ambiguity about his fate.

Mamlouk has moved through a number of high-level security positions, including the Deputy Head of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, then head of the General Intelligence Service in 2005.

After the assassination of the “crisis cell” in July 2012, Ali Mamlouk was appointed head of the National Security Office, succeeding Hisham Bakhtiar, thus becoming the supervisor of the work of all intelligence agencies.

Mamlouk played a prominent role in repressing the movement opposing the regime since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, which led to the imposition of sanctions on him by European countries and the United States. Moreover, in 2018, a French court issued an arrest warrant against him on charges of “complicity in acts of torture and detentions, and involvement in crimes against humanity.”