Dawoud Rajiha

Dawoud Rajiha داوود راجحة
Minister of Defense
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 August 2011
President	Bashar al-Assad
Prime Minister	Adel Safar
Preceded by	Ali Habib Mahmud
Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army
In office 3 June 2009 – 8 August 2011
President	Bashar al-Assad
Preceded by	Ali Habib Mahmud
Succeeded by	Assef Shawkat
Personal details
Born	1947 (age 63–64)[1] Damascus, Syria[1]
Religion	Greek Orthodox[2]
Military service
Rank	General

General Dawoud Rajiha (Arabic: داوود راجحة‎), forename sometimes transliterated Dawood or Daoud, surname sometimes transliterated Rajha, is the Minister of Defense of the Syrian Arab Republic and a former chief of staff of the Syrian Arab Army.

Rajiha, a Greek Orthodox Christian,^[2] was born in Damascus, the Syrian capital, in 1947. He was an artillery specialist in the military academy, from which he graduated in 1967. He attained the rank of lieutenant general in 1998 and made full general in 2005, a year after being made deputy chief of staff of the Syrian Army. After serving as the army chief of staff since Ali Habib Mahmud was named to head the Ministry of Defense in 2009, he was appointed to replace Mahmud as defense minister on 8 August 2011,^[1] during the 2011 Syrian uprising.^[2]

See also

• Cabinet of Syria

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "President al-Assad Issues Decree Naming Gen. Dawood Rajiha Defense Minister". SANA. 8 August 2011. http://www.sana.sy/eng/361/2011/08/08/362917.htm. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Syria's Assad replaces defense minister with army chief of staff". Ha'aretz. 8 August 2011. http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/syria-s-assad-replaces-defense-minister-with-army-chief-of-staff-1.377658. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 

External links

• Ministry of Defense official government website

Persondata
Name	Rajiha, Dawoud
Alternative names
Short description	Minister of Defense
Date of birth	1947
Place of birth	Damascus, Syria
Date of death
Place of death