Maher al-Assad
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Lt. Col. Maher al-Assad (Arabic: ماهر الأسد) is the brother of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
He is an Alawite muslim and as the youngest son of former president Hafez al-Assad, he was born in 1968, only two years before his father assumed office. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Damascus University, but then chose a military career. After the death of his brother Basil al-Assad in a 1994 car accident, he was mentioned as a possible successor to Hafez, but in the end, Bashar succeeded his father.
Maher al-Assad is a member of the ruling Baath Party's central committee and is said to be a close advisor of Bashar. He is head of Syria's Presidential Guard. In October 1999, he is rumoured to have shot Gen. Assef Shawqat (who is married to his sister Bushra) in the stomach during a fight.[citation needed] Assef survived, and the two are said to have good relations.
Both Shawkat and Maher al-Assad were mentioned in a leaked draft version of the Mehlis report as suspects in the 2005 murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.
[edit] External links
- Arabic biography of Maher al-Assad 2
(Maher, pictured, left:)
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