Hero of the homeland, martyr General Dawoud Rajiha (1947 - 18 July 2012), was the Minister of Defense of the Syrian Arab Republic and a former chief of staff of the Syrian Arab Army.
Rajiha, a Greek Orthodox Christian, was born in Damascus, the Syrian capital, in 1947. He was an artillery specialist in the military academy, from which he graduated in 1967. He attained the rank of lieutenant general in 1998 and made full general in 2005, a year after being made deputy chief of staff of the Syrian Army. After serving as the army chief of staff. He was decorated with a number of military orders throughout his military service.
Rajiha passed awy on July 18, 2012 in a suicide bomb attack on the National Security Building in Damascus. The blast took place during a meeting held by ministers and a number of officials.  Some of the conferees sustained serious injuries.
He is survived by a wife and 4 children.