When al-Assad ousted the government of Nureddin al-Atassi and Salah Jadid in 1970, he appointed al-Khuli Chief of Air Force Intelligence.

[2] Under al-Khuli's leadership, Air Force Intelligence became a powerful apparatus largely independent from scrutiny and tasked with assignments beyond its traditional roles.

[2] Following the attempted April 1986 bombing of an Israeli El Al plane in London's Heathrow Airport in what became known as the Hindawi affair,[4] al-Khouli was dismissed from his intelligence post in 1987.

According to historian Hanna Batatu, "it is not unlikely that al-Khouli decided to take ultimate responsibility for imprudence or missteps by Air Intelligence and to consent to the semblance of presidential disfavor in the higher interest of the regime.

His appointment, which coincided with efforts by the Syrian government to improve ties with the West, was a surprise to observers due to al-Khuli's alleged role in the Hindawi affair.