Hasakah Kurdish governor nominee to visit Damascus within 2 days
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Nour al-Din Ahmad Ahmad, the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) nominee for the post of Hasakah governor, told North Press on Sunday that the Syrian government has approved his nomination and that he will visit the Syrian capital, Damascus, with a political delegation within two days.
On Jan. 30, the SDF and the Syrian transitional government announced they had reached an agreement on a ceasefire and the integration of institutions.
Under the agreement, the SDF nominated candidates for the positions of Hasakah governor, assistant minister of defense, and other posts that have not yet been disclosed.
Nour al-Din Ahmad, known as Abu Omar Khanika, was born in Qamishli in 1969 and holds a diploma from the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Damascus University.
He worked as an engineer at the Telecommunications Directorate in Hasakah and Qamishli from 1993 until 2012, when the former regime dismissed him from his job.
He later became wanted by the Palestine Branch of Syrian intelligence for participating in demonstrations calling for the overthrow of Baathist rule.
Ahmad subsequently worked within the structures of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and was active in civil peace initiatives. In early 2014, he served as head of public relations for the SDF and was a member of its General Command.
Ahmad lost his son, Omar, during the defense of Kobani in 2014, when the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) repelled an attack by the Islamic State (ISIS).
According to the announced agreement, security forces affiliated with the Syrian Interior Ministry are set to enter the centers of Qamishli and Hasakah cities on Monday to oversee the process of integrating the AANES’s institutions with those of the Syrian state.