Mustafa Al-Sheikh

Who is Mustafa Al-Sheikh?

Mustafa Al-Sheikh was the head of the Free Syrian Army military council until December 2012 and a commander of the Sham Falcons, a battalion numbering about 2,000 men. He was a general in the Syrian Army prior to his defection during the Syrian civil war.

Al-Sheikh said he battled with his conscience before defecting, mindful of his 37 years' service and of possible retribution against his extended family. He said the final straw had been a sexual assault by soldiers who took turns attacking a young bride in a village near Hama.

Al-Sheikh had declared: "We want very urgent intervention, outside of the security council due to the Russian veto. We want a coalition similar to what happened in Kosovo and the Ivory Coast." On May 26, 2012, al-Sheikh said regime opponents had lost all faith in the UN Security Council, on which Damascus has Russia as a powerful backer.