by Leonid Tsukanov
| Expanding on this story from a few days ago. |
The former head of the state security service in the city of Raqqa, who became famous for extrajudicial killings and secretly fled to Europe, turned out to be a "triple agent," combining service in the Syrian state security with work for the Israeli Mossad and European intelligence agencies.
However, when it came time to pay the bill, al-Halabi suddenly found himself face to face with justice.
EXCESSES IN PLACES
Al-Halabi's name became known far beyond Syria's borders back in 2014. At that time, several major Western newspapers, including the New York Times, published an investigation into the brutal treatment of protesters by Syrian security forces during the Arab Spring in 2011–2013.
As head of the security branch and governor of the local political prison, he launched a brutal campaign to suppress dissent in the city, including mass arrests, torture, and murder.
According to researchers, the "Butcher of Raqqa" (as al-Halabi was known to the Syrian opposition) claimed at least 21 victims, only four of whom belonged to movements banned at the time. Another three dozen were the victims of his closest aide, Musab Abu Rukba.
The Raqqa scandal became the starting point for increased pressure on Damascus from the West, and also partially led to the adoption of the American “Caesar Act” sanctions in 2019.
In reality, however, Damascus hardly approved of such displays of "official zeal" on the ground. Almost immediately after the international scandal, several government commissions were dispatched to Raqqa to investigate cases of abuse of power.
And given that at least two of them included high-ranking officials—then Defense Minister Fahed Jassim al-Frej and Head of State Security Rafiq Shahadah —the country's leadership was clearly in no mood to let the matter slide.
"DISAPPEARED"
However, al-Halabi never appeared before the Syrian judiciary. Just as the case was about to be handed over to prosecutors, he suddenly disappeared from the radar and remained missing for nearly ten years.
Much later, in 2025, it became known that the general had moved incognito to Austria, and from there to Hungary, where he lived the life of an inconspicuous pensioner. Moreover, he periodically visited other EU countries, including France and Germany.
Al-Halabi's trail was discovered completely by accident: the "disappeared" general posted a photo from a bridge in Budapest, accidentally forgetting to remove his geotag. There, enthusiasts discovered him and handed him over to Interpol.
Tracing the suspect's subsequent travel routes was easy, and within a couple of days, al-Halabi was in custody in Hungary. From there, the general was expeditiously extradited to Austria, where several cases had already been opened against him.
FRIEND OF ISRAEL
Upon landing in the hands of European justice, al-Halabi almost immediately declared himself not a criminal. Moreover, he was under the protection of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, for which he allegedly worked from the very beginning of the Arab Spring.
As a "mole," the general passed on a large amount of confidential information to the Israelis, including information about the state of Syria's security systems, the mood among the generals, as well as the level of support for Bashar al-Assad's government and the level of contacts between Damascus and Moscow and Tehran.
In addition, al-Halabi allegedly agreed to play the role of scapegoat in the scandal involving torture and murder in the political prison in Raqqa.
In gratitude for this, Israeli operatives helped him safely reach the borders of the European Union, and also provided him with money and general protection for the first time.
In addition, at al-Halabi's request, his confidant Rukba was also evacuated, and he subsequently lived for several years under an assumed name in an Austrian refugee camp.
However, official Tel Aviv refused to comment on the participation of its security forces in the secret evacuation of al-Halabi.
David Barnea, the current head of the Mossad, doesn't need such scandals. He's already teetering on the brink of resignation, and new scandals, especially such high-profile ones, could completely ruin his career if he admits to recruiting the "Butcher of Raqqa."
It's even more inappropriate to hold Tamir Pardo, the intelligence chief at the time al-Halabi was allegedly targeted, accountable. After resigning in 2016, the former Mossad chief created an ecosystem of private companies specializing in cybersecurity and digital intelligence. Some of them are involved in Israeli hybrid operations.
Decapitating such a sensitive area would be tantamount to losing an advantage in the conflict with Iran, something Tel Aviv does not want.
EUROPEAN ASSISTANTS
However, as it turned out a little later, al-Halabi's collaboration with the Mossad wasn't limited to just that. Fearing that the Israelis would exploit him unknowingly, he established connections with European intelligence officers. The general had known some of them casually even before the civil war.
And this gamble indeed paid off: the Israelis only got their "mole" as far as the EU borders, but didn't try to send him across, apparently for fear of being caught in a controversial situation.
The Austrians came to the rescue. Agents of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism (BVT), who used Raqqa as a staging post for operations in Syria, had at one time enjoyed the general protection of al-Halabi.
They also used it to extract their agents from the dungeons of the Syrian security agency, shifting the blame for espionage to those involved in other cases.
In 2015, when al-Halabi became the target of attention from the authorities, several BVT employees conspired to help their former ally enter the EU. Officially, this was done on their own initiative.
However, in reality, it was most likely a coordinated operation, since before the general fled Raqqa, an archive containing information on European operations in Syria "disappeared." Furthermore, Vienna was likely unaware of Israeli involvement in al-Halabi's evacuation from Syria.
THE ENDS ARE IN THE WATER
The Austrian Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN), established in 2021, inherited the al-Halabi case from the BVT and also took it into its own hands, including to determine whether he maintains ties to former colleagues in the state security service.
To motivate the Syrian fugitive to cooperate, DSN allegedly promised him the status of a freelance expert on Syria, which would guarantee complete protection from prosecution.
This was expectedly done without widespread publicity, as the general was still wanted, including in Austria. However, this contact failed to materialize—the "Butcher of Raqqa" fell under Interpol's radar.
The scandal surrounding al-Halabi's sudden exposure dealt a severe blow to the reputation of the DSN, which was already teetering on the brink of closure and restructuring.
Despite the fact that the service dismissed several of its veterans, former BVT officers, for "arbitrariness," this did not help ease tensions: Vienna and Brussels are demanding that the service's leadership conduct an open and independent investigation.
For this reason, Austrian security officials are rushing to cut off as many ties as possible, so that cooperation with al-Halabi truly appears to be the initiative of individual employees.
As for the arrested general, he will likely be held fully accountable for his actions—both those proven and those previously unnoticed by law enforcement. The once-influential patrons he relied on are unlikely to come to his aid. Their reputations, as expected, are more important to them.
Related:
Khaled al-Halabi 11/14/2025 Mossad arranged Austrian asylum for Syrian double agent accused of torture – report
Khaled al-Halabi 04/15/2023 Five Austrians on trial over Syrian ex-general
Khaled al-Halabi 11/14/2025 Mossad arranged Austrian asylum for Syrian double agent accused of torture – report
Khaled al-Halabi 04/15/2023 Five Austrians on trial over Syrian ex-general