On Monday, the British newspaper outlet “The Daily Telegraph” released an article that alleged the Director of the National Security Bureau for the Syrian Ba’ath Party’s Central Command – ‘Ali Mamlouk – was under “house arrest” over suspicions of corresponding with Turkish Military Intelligence in order to conduct a coup to overthrow the Syrian President Dr. Bashar Al-Assad.

The author of this article alleged that ‘Ali Mamlouk reached out to Rifa’at Al-Assad – President Assad’s exiled uncle that has been excommunicated from all governmental institutions – through a third party in the Aleppo Governorate, where they proceeded to involve the Turkish Military Intelligence because “Syrian troops lost control of Idlib city and Jisr al-Shughour to an alliance of Islamist rebels including Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s local branch.”

Al-Masdar News has reached out to a number of sources in Damascus – including members of the Ba’ath Party’s Central Command – who labeled the article “preposterous” and “hysterical” because ‘Ali Mamlouk was seen inside of his office on Sunday.

“Rifaat al-Assad declined to comment on the reports, but one informed source, who asked not to be named, said that ” there is a big interest among the Syrian officers and military for Rifaat Assad to come back to Syria.”

Since his exile to France in 1984, Rifa’at Al-Assad has been relieved of all his duties in the Syrian Ba’ath Party’s Regional Command and with the Syrian Arab Army; he has only visited Syria once over the last three decades and this was to attend the funeral of his late mother in Qurdaha.

If ‘Ali Mamlouk was under house arrest in Damascus, he would not only be restricted from travel, but also, prohibited from meeting with Syrian officials and conducting work for the state; this was not the case, as the Director of the National Security Bureau was present in Damascus on Sunday.

According to another source in the Ba’ath Party Central Command, the authors of “Bashar al-Assad’s spy chief arrested over Syria coup plot” did not contact any governmental offices for an official comment on the status of ‘Ali Mamlouk.