Tlass retires on May 11

The Syrian defense minister lt. gen. Mustafa Tlass will be 72 on May 11, when he is expected he will be announced as retired as an army officer but will continue to keep his post in the Baath party as a leading figure.

Sources close to lt. Gen. Tlass said that Tlass will be 72 on May 11 and it is expected that his retirement as an army general will be announced in that date.

Tlass has been occupying the post of the defense minister since 1970, the date of the Correction Movement when the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. Tlass also occupies the post of the deputy premier and defense minister and occupies a seat at the regional leadership of the Baath Arab socialist party also since the 1970s.

The sources expected that Tlass resignation from his military grade as a retirement from his post as a defense minister. A matter which means the possibility of a ministerial reshuffle to appoint an alternative. However, Tlass will keep his work in the Party regional leadership as a constituent member in its composition.