Muhsen Bilal
محسن بلال
Bilal in 2009.
Member of the Central Command of the Syrian Regional Branch of Baath Party
Assumed office
22 April 2017
Minister of Information
In office
21 February 2006 – 29 March 2011
Prime MinisterMohammad Naji Otari
Preceded byMahdi Dakhlallah
Succeeded byAdnan Mahmoud
Personal details
Born1944 (age 79–80)
Burghalieh, Tartous Governorate, Syria
Political partySyrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
Alma materUniversity of Padua
University of Pennsylvania

Muhsen Bilal (Arabic: محسن بلال) (born 1944) is a Syrian surgeon, ambassador and Ba'athist politician.

Early life and education

Bilal was born into a prominent Alawite family in Burghalieh, Tartus Governorate, in 1944.[1] His father lived in Argentina between 1930 and 1936, where he worked as an Arabic teacher.[2] He studied medicine at the University of Padua, graduating in 1970. In 1976, he specialized in surgery in Italy. Then he received his PhD in medicine and surgery from the University of Pennsylvania with the specialization in liver transplantation. Bilal married Dr. Faten Rustum, a prominent fellow doctor.

Career

After graduation, Bilal became the head of surgery at the Al Assad University Hospital.[3] He then served as a professor of surgery at the faculty of medicine at Damascus University from 1977 to 2001.[4]

His political career started in 1977 when he was elected to the Peoples Assembly. In 1981, he was named the chairman of the Arab and foreign affairs committee, and served in this position until 1985. He led the Syrian delegation at the 1982 World Peace Conference in Prague. In 2001, he became Syria's ambassador to Spain, and he held this post until he was appointed minister of information to the cabinet headed by then prime minister Mohammad Naji Otari in February 2006.[5] He replaced Mahdi Dakhlallah as information minister.[1] When Bilal was in office, he acted as chief spokesperson for the Syrian government during the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.[6] Bilal's term ended in April 2011 when he was succeeded by Adnan Mahmoud.[7]

Personal life

Bilal speaks Arabic, English, Spanish, and Italian.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Moubayed, Sami (16–22 February 2002). "Strengthening the line". Al Ahram Weekly. 782. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Jalit, Jodor (5 June 2015). "Dr. Bilal: A Siria la defendemos los sirios". Diario Sirio-libanés. Buenos Aires.
  3. 1 2 Landis, Joshua. "The New Syrian Cabinet". Joshua Landis. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  4. ↑ "Mohsen Bilal: A guiding light for progress". China Daily. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Syrian Cabinet Reshuffle". Sada. 19 February 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  6. ↑ Andrew Tabler (2011). In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria. Chicago Review Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-56976-936-2.
  7. ↑ "Assad keeps Moualem as foreign minister in new govt". Amman. Reuters. 14 April 2011. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
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