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The phone book that led us to Assad's spy chief in hiding
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- DeepHorus
In an abandoned luxury apartment in the Syrian capital Damascus, armed men sifting through designer clothes and documents made a startling discovery: a phone book that could lead to the whereabouts of Hussam Luka, one of Bashar al-Assad's most feared intelligence chiefs. Known as "The Spider," Luka was accused of orchestrating atrocities, systematic torture, and was sanctioned by the UK, US, and European Union. The unremarkable notebook, filled with scribbled blue handwriting, contained dozens of namesâfrom shopkeepers and doctors to military officials and people bearing the Luka family name.
Luka vanished seemingly overnight in December 2024 when Assad was toppled, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and demands for justice that many fear will never be realized. As head of Syria's most powerful civilian intelligence agency, the Political Security Directorate, he was among the most feared men in the country, yet much of his work was conducted from the shadows. At one time, his phone number was hard to avoidâit had been spray-painted on walls around the central city of Homs in the early days of the Syrian civil war.
The conflict was sparked by Assad's brutal crushing of a pro-democracy uprising in 2011, a war in which hundreds of thousands of people would go on to be killed. Luka had been tasked with wresting Homs from the rebels, and residents were under siege, struggling to access food and medicine. Several people, including former rebel fighter Motaz al-Zaydi, told us they had resorted to eating rats. Al-Zaydi remembered Luka's name and phone number appearing on a wall in his neighborhood, with a message that those wanting to flee the fighting could call for safe passage.
Some are believed to have been granted safe transit, but others who called were never seen or heard from again, according to multiple accounts. Residents referred to Luka as "The Spider" because of his vast web of allies and informants, including some embedded in rebel groups. "He was everywhere," they said, with al-Zaydi describing him as an "evil genius" and "a fox of a man."
But his most egregious action in the city, many argue, was his alleged involvement in the so-called Eid Massacre, known by some as the Children's Massacre, which the US noted when sanctioning him. It was the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in September 2015, and Mohammed Towakatli's seven-year-old son, Wael, was gardening in a playground when a strike hit at 17:10. Twenty-eight people were killed, including 17 children and four women. "They were tiny children," Towakatli said with tears in his eyes. "The ground here was painted red with blood."
In the abandoned apartment, days after Assad's fall, rebels looked for clues as to where Luka might have gone. The phone book, along with photos and medals inscribed with his name, could offer a trail. The rebels hope these contacts might help them learn more about The Spider and his crimes, or even track him down. As the search continues, the discovery underscores the broader context of atrocities committed under Assad's rule, and the immense difficulty of achieving justice for the victims.
