Jihad Makdissi

Journeys

Biography

Jihad Makdissi was the official spokesman of the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2011, becoming one of the most visible faces of the Assad regime's international communications during the revolution. He gave dozens of press conferences defending government positions as the crackdown intensified. In December 2012, he abruptly disappeared from his post — it emerged that he had defected to the West. His defection came amid reports of regime disarray and was significant because he had been one of the most prominent communicators for a government that had very few internationally credible voices.