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Muhsen Bilal محسن بلال | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Bilal in 2009. | |
| Member of theCentral Command of theSyrian Regional Branch of Baath Party | |
| In office 22 April 2017 – 4 May 2024 | |
| Minister of Information | |
| In office 21 February 2006 – 29 March 2011 | |
| Prime Minister | Mohammad Naji Otari |
| Preceded by | Mahdi Dakhlallah |
| Succeeded by | Adnan Mahmoud |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1944 (age 80–81) |
| Political party | Ba'ath Party |
| Alma mater | University of Padua University of Pennsylvania |
Muhsen Bilal (Arabic:محسن بلال) (born 1944) is aSyriansurgeon, ambassador and Ba'athist politician.
Bilal was born into a prominentAlawite 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 theUniversity of Padua, graduating in 1970. In 1976, he specialized in surgery in Italy. Then he received his PhD in medicine and surgery from theUniversity of Pennsylvania with the specialization inliver transplantation. Bilal married Dr. Faten Rustum, a prominent fellow doctor.
After graduation, Bilal became the head of surgery atthe Al Assad University Hospital.[3] He then served as a professor of surgery at the faculty of medicine atDamascus 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 inPrague. In 2001, he became Syria's ambassador toSpain, and he held this post until he was appointed minister of information to the cabinet headed by then prime ministerMohammad Naji Otari in February 2006.[5] He replacedMahdi Dakhlallah as information minister.[1] When Bilal was in office, he acted as chief spokesperson for the Syrian government during theIsrael-Hezbollah war in 2006.[6] Bilal's term ended in April 2011 when he was succeeded byAdnan Mahmoud.[7]
Bilal speaks Arabic, English, Spanish, and Italian.[3]