Aron in Sweden sent me this note: "there's always been some confusion about the exact name of Hesham Ikhtiar, or
Bakhtiar, as it was also reported for many years. But I think it's actually
Ikhtiar, not Bakhtiar. The congress proceedings from the Baath's 10th
Regional Congress in 2005, where he was elected to the Regional Command among
other things, have it as Hesham al-Ikhtiar. (Here: ).
Also, SANA now had it as "Ikhtiar" in the report on his death – pasted below. How to spell the names of Syrian officials is the one area where I trust their reporting, so I'm going to go with that.
Anyway, moot point now."
Also, SANA now had it as "Ikhtiar" in the report on his death – pasted below. How to spell the names of Syrian officials is the one area where I trust their reporting, so I'm going to go with that.
Anyway, moot point now."
To which I responded that in fact it is most likely Bakhtyar because the man is originally Iranian and his name was probably Arabized for Ba`th party promotion. But not sure.
