A top security official of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been placed under house arrest on suspicion of plotting a coup, The Telegraph reported today.

Ali Mamlouk, the head of the country’s National Security Bureau, and one of the few officials still to have access to President Bashar al-Assad, was accused of holding secret talks with countries backing rebel groups and exiled members of the Syrian regime. …

Even before Mamlouk’s arrest, the web of intelligence agencies with which the regime has enforced its authority for four decades was in turmoil, with two other leaders killed or removed.

Last month, Rustum Ghazaleh, the head of the Political Security Directorate, died in hospital after he was physically attacked by men loyal to General Rafiq Shehadeh, his opposite number in military intelligence, who was in turn sacked.

Ghazaleh and Mamlouk are from Sunni families. According to a source who spoke to The Telegraph, Mamlouk “hated that Syria was giving her sovereignty up to [Shiite] Iran. He thought there needed to be a change.” Mamlouk is accused of making “contact with hostile governments and former regime officials,” including with Rifaat Assad, the president’s exiled uncle. Iranians are reported to be running many areas of Syria’s government, including the the central bank. Iran is committed to keep its control of Syria “as the primary route through which to arm Hizbollah.”

The recent setbacks Syria has suffered has some analysts suggesting that the Assad regime is losing control of Syria. Syria expert Jonathan Spyer, director of the Rubin Center, has written that despite the setbacks, Iran is committed to propping up Assad.

[Photo: Isham Ali Rasheed Al-Asheeri / YouTube ]