Syria appoints 5 security officials

DAMASCUS - Five Syrian intelligence officials have been appointed Tuesday to fill positions in major security headquarters, sources told Xinhua.

According to the source, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that Maj-Gen Mohammad Deib Zaitoon has been appointed as the chief of the Syrian Intelligence.

The source added that Maj-Gen Ali Yunus is appointed as the chief of the military intelligence.

Maj-Gen Ali Mamlouk is appointed as the head of the National Security, replacing Hisham Ikhtiar, who was killed in last week's bombing that ripped through the National Security headquarters.

Maj-Gen Abdulfattah Qudsieh is appointed as deputy National Security chief.

Meanwhile, Rustom Ghazaleh, former head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon, is appointed as the head of the Syrian Political Security.

The checkup came on the heels of last Wednesday's bombing that ripped through a high-level meeting and killed four security officials from the inner circle of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad.