Ex-Syria intelligence chief fled to Austria with help from Mossad

A former official of the Syrian intelligence has reportedly successfully escaped to Austria with the help of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, an investigation has revealed.

According to British newspaper the Daily Telegraph, Brigadier General Khaled Al-Halabi was granted asylum in Austria after being refused asylum in France.

Al-Halabi, who served as the chief of Syrian intelligence in the northern city of Raqqa from 2009 until 2013, first escaped the country with the help of French intelligence agency DGSE in 2014. While in France, however, he was refused asylum by the government the following year due to concerns of his involvement in war crimes.

He was then reportedly transported to Austria by Israeli intelligence agents, where he was granted asylum in 2015 and was provided a four-bedroom apartment in the capital Vienna by the authorities.

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A judicial source who spoke to the paper said: “As he was really peeved not to get asylum in France, he appears to have made contact with Mossad, who got in contact with Austria’s BVT [Austria’s domestic intelligence agency].”

During his time as Raqqa’s intelligence chief, Al-Halabi is said to have presided over the torture, murder and sexual assault of prisoners that is prevalent throughout the vast prison network controlled by the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. His actions add to the long record of war crimes committed by the regime’s intelligence and security services, which increased following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution and civil war.

The former intelligence chief’s allowance to begin a new life five years ago has reportedly caused outrage from many in Austria since the case was revealed in its press, with Al-Halabi being described as a war criminal by several Austrian members of parliament.

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