Major General Jamil Sayyid
Former Director General of General Security

Jamil Sayyid, 58, was born in the village of al-Nabi Eila, near Ablah, in the Bekaa valley. After graduating from the al-Hikmeh school in Beirut he joined the Lebanese army and served in the armored corps. He was stationed in Beirut until March 1976 when he joined the First Brigade in the Bekaa valley, headed by Brigadier General Ibrahim Shaheen, who at that time established the "Vanguards Of The Arab Lebanese Army". In 1977, Sayyid took charge of the intelligence branch of the First Brigade after it was reincorporated into the Lebanese army.

In 1982, Sayyid became deputy chief of the Lebanese Intelligence Services in the Bekaa valley under Colonel Michel Rahbani. Later that year he traveled to Arizona and attended a four-month military intelligence course under the IMET program. In 1984, Sayyid became the chief intelligence officer in the Bekaa valley after Rahbani was transferred to Beirut.

In 1989-1990, Sayyid was in charge of security for then president Elias Hrawi in the Bekaa valley and later at his temporary residence in West Beirut. Between 1990 and 1992, Sayyid played a key role in reorganizing the army's intelligence services. In 1992, Sayyid was appointed deputy chief of military intelligence (again under Rahbani). In December 1998, newly-elected Lebanese president Emile Lahoud named Sayyid the director-general of the Sureté Générale.

In 1983, his car was ambushed near his village. Although his driver was killed instantly, Sayyid escaped the assassination attempt miraculously.

During the epic of Syrian domination, Sayyid was said to have had plans to run for parliament in 2005, and was groomed to become speaker of the parliament.

He is related by marriage to Mustafa Hamdan, the commander of the Lebanese Presidential Guards.

Resignation: On Monday, April 25, 2005, Sayyid, one of several security chiefs suspected of direct or indirect involvement in the killing of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, sumbmitted his resignation. "I am asking for the termination of my services, and the acceptance of my resignation," he said in a statement. Sayyid, who has been the central security figure over the past seven years, said he resigned because of "important changes in the (country's) policies" which had brought him to power. The Lebanese opposition has demanded the sacking of five top security chiefs and public prosecutor Adnan Addum, blaming them for Hariri's assassination in a Beirut bomb blast on February 14. Sayyid and General Ali Hajj, head of internal security forces, offered on Friday to step aside during a UN probe into the killing. Lebanon was thrown into political turmoil by Hariri's assassination which sparked anti-Syrian protests, led to the resignation of the government and forced Syria to pull out its troops from Lebanon after a 29-year military presence.

Service Termination: In its session of Thursday, April 28, 2005, the government adopted a decision to terminate the services of Jamil Sayyed, thus ending the services of a top security figure who played a major steering role under the reign of the Syrian Occupation, and marking the end of an era.The termination of Sayyid's services as well as the services of state prosecutor Adnan and Addoum and  other security services chiefs was a top demand by the opposition as a result of their possible role in the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri on February 14, 2005.

Imprisonment: On Saturday, September 3, 2005, Lebanon Investigating judge Elias Eid arrest warrants for four high-ranking officials allowing them to be kept in custody in connection with the murder investigation of slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. The detainees include presidential guard commander Mustafa Hamdan, former general security chief Jamil al-Sayed, ex-internal security head Ali al-Hage, and former army intelligence director Raymond Azar. They were first arrested earlier that week. The four were close allies of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud. Their arrests marked the first major step towards a trial over the bomb blast which sparked a wave of public protests that led to the departure of Syrian troops in April and transformed Lebanese politics. The assassination has been widely blamed on Syria and its political allies in Lebanon at the time, charges vehemently rejected by Damascus. Detlev Mehlis, the head of the UN commission assisting the Lebanese authorities with the inquiry, described the original arrest of the four as a "a very important step" but also cautioned that they were only "part of the picture" and the case was far from over.