{"id":12056,"date":"2025-01-31T18:16:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T18:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/?p=12056"},"modified":"2025-01-31T18:16:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T18:16:18","slug":"syria-arrests-former-regime-official-atef-najib-key-figure-in-the-2011-uprising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/2025\/01\/31\/syria-arrests-former-regime-official-atef-najib-key-figure-in-the-2011-uprising\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria Arrests Former Regime Official Atef Najib, Key Figure in the 2011 Uprising"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Watan<\/strong><\/em>-The director of the Syrian Public Security Directorate in Latakia Governorate, western Syria, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kanaifati, confirmed that on Friday, Brigadier General Atef Najib of the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime&#8217;s army was arrested. Najib played a role in igniting the Syrian revolution after attempting to suppress it in its early stages in Daraa Governorate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col flex-grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 whitespace-normal break-words text-start [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"5f68dae4-5fd9-472b-92cd-ac9b4267c3bf\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-4o\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert light\">\n<p>Atef Najib served as the head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa until 2011, when the Syrian revolution began. He wielded significant influence within the security apparatus and had strong authority in southern Syria due to his familial ties with the head of the Syrian regime\u2014he was Assad\u2019s cousin.<\/p>\n<p>Najib\u2019s name became infamous in 2011 for his role in one of the key events that triggered the revolution against the Assad regime. Under his leadership, the Political Security Branch arrested several children in Daraa for writing anti-regime slogans on their school walls, inspired by protests in other Arab countries like Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia.<\/p>\n<p>The arrests took place on February 27, 2011, when 18 students in Daraa were detained for writing phrases such as &#8220;The people want the fall of the regime&#8221; and &#8220;Your turn has come, doctor.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10512\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10512\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10512 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Bashar-Al-Asad.jpeg\" alt=\"Atef Najib arrest\" width=\"750\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Bashar-Al-Asad.jpeg 750w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Bashar-Al-Asad-300x193.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10512\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">the fall of Bashar al-Assad\u2019s regime<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Najib ignored the demands of the children&#8217;s families, the city&#8217;s elders, and a tribal delegation that pleaded for their release. He infamously responded, &#8220;Forget your children, go home and have more.\u00a0On March 16, 2011, the families of the detained children, along with relatives of other detainees from various provinces and human rights activists, staged a sit-in at Marjeh Square near the Interior Ministry in Damascus. However, security forces violently dispersed the protest, arresting 12 people, including several opposition activists. Two days later, Atef Najib\u2019s harsh response to the people of Daraa led to widespread protests in the governorate.<\/p>\n<p>The security forces&#8217; violent crackdown on demonstrators, resulting in deaths among protesters, fueled public anger and caused the protests to spread across all Syrian provinces. The ousted Assad regime attempted to contain the escalating protests following Najib\u2019s insult to the people of Daraa by dismissing him from his position. However, by then, it was too late\u2014the protests had already evolved into a full-scale revolution, which later took a military turn due to the security forces&#8217; use of live ammunition against demonstrators.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2011, former U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions on Syria, prohibiting dealings with key regime figures, including Maher al-Assad (Bashar al-Assad\u2019s brother), his cousin Atef Najib, and then-intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_11919\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11919\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11919 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ahmad-1.jpg\" alt=\"Syria's transitional president\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ahmad-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ahmad-1-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.watanserb.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ahmad-1-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11919\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahmed Al-Sharaa Appointed as Transitional President<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Atef Najib remained absent from the Syrian scene for years, as his name became closely linked to the revolution&#8217;s outbreak. With news of his arrest now circulating, many Syrians on social media are demanding a public trial and the harshest possible punishment for him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watan-The director of the Syrian Public Security Directorate in Latakia Governorate, western Syria, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kanaifati, confirmed that on Friday, Brigadier General Atef Najib of the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime&#8217;s army was arrested. Najib played a role in igniting the Syrian revolution after attempting to suppress it in its early stages in Daraa Governorate. &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3716,199],"class_list":["post-12056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-atef-najib","tag-bashar-al-assad"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Syria Arrests Former Regime Official Atef Najib, Key Figure in the 2011 Uprising - Watan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Syrian authorities have arrested Atef Najib, a former high-ranking security official whose actions in 2011 helped spark the Syrian revolution\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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