suheil salman al-hassan (arabic: سهيل الحسن‎) (born 10 june 1970), nicknamed the tiger, is a brigadier general in the syrian army, currently serving as commander of its elite tiger forces. he graduated from the syrian arab air force academy in 1991, and served in many units of the syrian arab air forces and air defence command, completing several training courses. after serving in the syrian arab air force and syrian arab air defence units, he joined the air force intelligence service, where he was responsible for the training of the elements of the special operations section. during the syrian civil war, suheil al-hassan has served and commanded his troops during several major engagements, including operation canopus star and the battle for the shaer gas field. he is part of the new generation of field syrian army commanders who emerged during the civil war. french newspaper "le monde" has claimed he could be a rival to assad as leader of syria.