Assad family

{{short description|Syrian political family}} {{Redirect|Al-Assad|3=al-Assad (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox Family | name = Assad family | native_name = {{nobold|عَائِلَةُ ٱلْأَسَدِ}} | image= | native_name_lang= ar | crest = 250px | caption = The Assad family, {{circa|1993}}. Rear, left to right: Maher, Bashar, Bassel, Majd, and Bushra al-Assad. Front, left to right: Anisa Makhlouf and Hafez al-Assad. | country = Ba'athist Syria | region= | early_forms= | origin = Qardaha, Latakia Governorate | members = Hafez al-Assad<br>Bashar al-Assad<br>Bassel al-Assad<br>Maher al-Assad<br>Rifaat al-Assad | otherfamilies = Makhlouf, Shalish | distinctions= | traditions = Alawism | heirlooms= | estate= | meaning= | footnotes= | deposition = 8 December 2024 }}

The '''Assad family''' ({{langx|ar|عَائِلَةُ ٱلْأَسَدِ|ʿāʾilat al-ʾAsad}}) ruled Syria from 1971, when Hafez al-Assad became president under the Ba'ath Party following the 1970 coup, until Bashar al-Assad was ousted on 8 December 2024.<ref name="reuters.com">{{cite web | title=Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has left Damascus to an unknown destination, say two senior army officers | website=Reuters | date=8 December 2024 | url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-has-left-damascus-an-unknown-destination-say-2024-12-08/ | ref={{sfnref|Reuters|2024}} | access-date=8 December 2024}}</ref> Bashar succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, after Hafez's death in 2000.

The Assads are originally from Qardaha, Latakia Governorate. They belong to the Alawite Kalbiyya tribe.<ref name=PSeale9>{{cite book|last=McConville|first=Patrick Seale with the assistance of Maureen|title=Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East|year=1990|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-06976-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/asadofsyriastrug00seal/page/9 9]|url=https://archive.org/details/asadofsyriastrug00seal|url-access=registration|quote=Kalbiya seale.}}</ref> In 1927, Ali Sulayman changed his last name from ''al-Wahsh'', Arabic for 'the savage', to ''al-Assad'', 'the lion', possibly in connection with his social standing as a local mediator and his political activities. All members of the extended Assad family stem from Ali Sulayman and his second wife, Naissa, who came from a village in the Syrian Coastal Mountains.<ref name="Stäheli">Martin Stäheli: ''Die syrische Außenpolitik unter Hafez Assad'', Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, {{ISBN|3-515-07867-3}}; p. 40</ref>

During his early reign in the 1970s, Hafez al-Assad created patronage networks of Ba'ath party elites loyal to his family. Members of the Assad family established control over vast swathes of the Syrian economy, and corruption became endemic in the public and private sectors.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=M. Sadowski |first=Yahya |date=1987 |title=Patronage and the Ba'th: Corruption and Control in Contemporary Syria |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41857946 |journal=Arab Studies Quarterly |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=442–461 |jstor=41857946}}</ref> After Hafez's death, family connections continued to be important in Syrian politics. Several close family members of Hafez also held vital positions in the government since his rise to power, an arrangement which existed until the fall of the Assad regime.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|title=Sanctions on Businessman Target Syria's Inner Sanctum|author=Robin Wright|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=22 February 2008|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022102839.html|access-date=31 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820075703/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022102839.html|archive-date=20 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Bar_S.380>{{cite journal|last=Bar |first=Shmuel |title=Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview |journal=Comparative Strategy |year=2006 |volume=25 |issue=5 |page=380 |url=http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |access-date=15 May 2011 |doi=10.1080/01495930601105412 |s2cid=154739379 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723214138/http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}</ref> The Syrian bureaucracy and business community were also dominated by members of the Assad family and individuals affiliated with them.<ref name="The Syria Report">{{Cite news |date=15 November 2022 |title=Changes to Syria's Business Elite Concentrates Wealth in Hands of Presidential Couple |work=The Syria Report |url=https://syria-report.com/analysis-changes-to-syrias-business-elite-concentrates-wealth-in-hands-of-presidential-couple-open-access/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202222632/https://syria-report.com/analysis-changes-to-syrias-business-elite-concentrates-wealth-in-hands-of-presidential-couple-open-access/ |archive-date=2 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cornish |last2=Khattab |first1=Chloe |first2=Asser |date=25 July 2019 |title=Syria's Assad puts pressure on business elite |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a7a75e4c-a95d-11e9-984c-fac8325aaa04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727060100/https://www.ft.com/content/a7a75e4c-a95d-11e9-984c-fac8325aaa04 |archive-date=27 July 2019}}</ref>

Hafez al-Assad built his regime into a bureaucracy that was marked by a cult of personality. Images, portraits, quotes and praises of Assad are displayed everywhere from schools to public markets and government offices. Hafez was referred to as the "Immortal Leader" and the ''al-Muqaddas'' ("Sanctified One") in official Assadist ideology. Hafez re-organised Syrian society in militaristic lines and persistently invoked conspiratorial rhetoric on the dangers of foreign-backed plots abetted by fifth columnists and promoted the armed forces as a central aspect of public life. After Hafez al-Assad's death, his son and successor Bashar al-Assad inherited the existing personality cult, with the party hailing him as the "Young Leader" and "Hope of the People". Drawing influence from the veneration of the Kim dynasty in North Korea's hereditary leadership model led by Kim Il Sung, official propaganda in Syria ascribed divine features to the Assad family and revered the Assad patriarchs as the founding fathers of modern Syria.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Halasa |last2=Omareen |last3=Mahfoud |first1=Malu |first2=Zaher |first3=Nawara |title=Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline |publisher=Saqi Books |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-86356-787-2 |location= London |pages=125, 147–156, 161}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pipes |first=Daniel |title=Syria Beyond the Peace Process |publisher=Washington Institute for Near East Policy |year=1995 |isbn=0-944029-64-7 |location= Washington, D.C. |pages=6, 7, 13–17 |chapter=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shamaileh |first=Ammar |title=Trust and Terror: Social Capital and the Use of Terrorism as a Tool of Resistance |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-138-20173-6 |location= New York|pages=66, 70–72, 82 |chapter=}}</ref>

Opposition to the Assad family's rule coalesced into the Syrian Civil War, which began on 15 March 2011. On 8 December 2024, Bashar al-Assad was reported to have fled Damascus, signalling the end of the Assad family's rule in Syria.<ref name="reuters.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/syria-assad-sweida-daraa-homs-hts-qatar-7f65823bbf0a7bd331109e8dff419430 |title=Syrian government appears to have fallen in stunning end to 50-year rule of Assad family|date=7 December 2024 |publisher=AP news}}</ref> After the fall of Damascus, Assad and his family including his wife Asma al-Assad had fled to Moscow, Russia; but remnants and loyalists to Assad have engaged in a conflict against the new Syrian government.<ref>[https://www.isna.ir/news/1403091812663/%D9%86%D8%AE%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%B2%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%AC%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A2%D8%BA%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%B4%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%84-%D8%AD%D8%B6%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%DB%8C نخست‌وزیر سوریه: مرحله جدیدی آغاز شده/ از محل حضور اسد اطلاعی ندارم (Syrian Prime Minister: A new phase has begun/I have no information about Assad's whereabouts)]</ref>

==Origin== The Assad family originates from Ali Sulayman al-Wahsh, Hafez al-Assad's father, who was born in 1875 and lived in the village of Qardaha in the coastal Syrian mountains. The locals reportedly nicknamed him "Wahsh", Arabic for "wild beast", because he was physically strong and a good fighter. Al-Wahsh remained the family name until the 1920s, when it was changed to al-Assad, Arabic for "lion".{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=25}}{{sfn|Alianak|2007|p=128}} Because of Sulayman's reported strength and marksmanship, he was respected in his village. At the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman governor of the Aleppo Vilayet sent troops to the area to collect taxes and round up recruits. The troops were reportedly fought off by Sulayman and his friends who were armed only with sabres and old muskets.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=3}} Because Sulayman was respected, he was a local mediator between quarreling families. He was also one of the local chieftains who were the de facto rulers of the area. The chieftains from the powerful families would provide protection to their neighbours and in return they gained loyalty and respect.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=4}} He lived until 1963, long enough to see his son's rise to power. He married twice and over three decades had eleven children. His first wife Sa'ada was from the district of Haffeh. They had three sons and two daughters. His second wife was Na'isa, twenty years younger than him. She was the daughter of Uthman Abbud from the village of Al-Qutailibiyah, a dozen kilometres further up the mountain. They had a daughter and five sons. Hafez was born on 6 October 1930 and was the fourth child.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=5}}

Al-Assad family is affiliated with the Alawite sect, a syncretic sect with links to early Shi'ism. Since coming to power in 1970, the Assad family traditionally used sectarian loyalty from the Alawite sect as a vital component to legitimize their dynastic rule. Many Alawite loyalists were assigned to crucial posts in the bureaucracy, security forces, military, judiciary, etc., in-order to consolidate Assad family's grip on power.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baltacioglu-Brammer |first=Ayse |date=November 2013 |title=Alawites and the Fate of Syria |url=https://origins.osu.edu/article/alawites-and-fate-syria?language_content_entity=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907084619/https://origins.osu.edu/article/alawites-and-fate-syria?language_content_entity=en%2A |archive-date=7 September 2023 |website=OSU.EDU |publisher=Ohio State University}}</ref>

==Cult of personality== {{Main|Hafez al-Assad's cult of personality}} {{quote box|In no other country in recent memory ... not Mao's China, nor Tito's Yugoslavia, has the intensity of the personality cult reached such extremes. Asad's image, speaking, smiling, listening, benevolent or stern, solemn or reflective, is everywhere. Sometimes there are half a dozen pictures of him in a row. His face envelops telephone poles and trucks, churches and mosques. His is the visage a Syrian sees when he opens his newspaper. | source = — Middle East Insight magazine<ref>{{Cite web |date=1985 |title=Middle East Insight |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDHvAAAAMAAJ&q=His%20is%20the%20visage%20a%20Syrian%20sees%20when%20%20he%20opens%20a%20newspaper |location=United States |volume=4 |page=15 |via=International Insight, Incorporated}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ma'oz |first=Moshe |year=1988 |title=Asad: The Sphinx of Damascus – A Political Biography |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location= New York |isbn= 1-555-84062-0|page=43}}</ref> | align = right | width = 25em }} [[File:Assad Aleppo Syria 2001.jpg|thumb|A square in Aleppo displaying the statue and portrait of Hafez al-Assad (2001)]]

During the 1950s, Syrian Alawites started becoming influential in the Syrian Armed Forces and Ba'ath Party. Led by Alawite military officers, like Salah Jadid, Ba'athist factions staged a series of coups during the 1960s and built up a one-party state. The party cemented its total control over the state and society by purging civilian elites, pursued an aggressive propaganda policy of "state-nationalist indoctrination" and established patronage networks based on sectarian lines to mobilise support.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carlos BC |first=Juan |date=9 December 2021 |title=The Assad Family Has Been Shaping Syria for 50 Years |url=https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/juan-carlos-bc-syria-news-bashar-al-assad-syrian-president-arab-world-news-83492/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209173612/https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/juan-carlos-bc-syria-news-bashar-al-assad-syrian-president-arab-world-news-83492/ |archive-date=9 December 2021 |website=Fair Observer}}</ref> Following the 1970 coup d'etat that ousted his rival Salah Jadid; Hafez al-Assad developed a Stalinist-style personality cult around him; which depicted him as the father figure of Syrian nation. After Hafez's death, the personality cult was extended to his son, Bashar al-Assad. Monuments, pictures, statues, symbols and billboards of both the leaders extensively pervade Syrian society, designed to consolidate the notion of "Assad's Syria". Observers view the state propaganda efforts as a strategy for securing the compliance of the masses and identifying Syrian nationhood with the Assad dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book |last=L. Stanton |first=Andrea |title=Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Sage |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4129-8176-7 |location=California |pages=233–235 |chapter=Al-Assad, Hafez}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=A. Reilly |first=James |title=Fragile Nation, Shattered Land: The Modern History of Syria |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-78453-961-0 |location=London|pages=160–162, 169 |chapter=7: Thirty Years of Hafez Al-Assad}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bonsen |first=Sabrina |title=Martyr Cults and Political Identities in Lebanon |publisher=Springer |year=2019 |isbn=978-3-658-28097-0 |location=Muhlacker, Germany |page=9 |chapter=2: Theoretical Framework, State of Research and Method}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Suzanne Kassab |first=Elizabeth |title=Enlightenment on the Eve of Revolution: The Egyptian and Syrian Debates |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2019 |isbn=9780231549677 |pages=172–173 |chapter=3: Tanwir Debates in Syria in the 1990s}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pipes |first=Daniel |title=Syria Beyond the Peace Process |publisher=Washington Institute for Near East Policy |year=1995 |isbn=0-944029-64-7 |pages=6, 7 |chapter=1: Assad's Post-Soviet Predicament}}</ref>

On the other hand, exaggerations of the propaganda and ever-deepening importance attached to upholding the personality cult around the Assad patriarchs have resulted in the simultaneous de-emphasis on the Syrian identity itself; due to the duplication of reality. In addition to criminalising any and all critiques of the regime; the modes of conveying messages between the state and civil society are restricted strictly within bounds of what is officially acceptable. The state further banned private political opinions critical of the regime and encourages citizens to report relatives and friends who exhibit undesirable attitudes. The policies of economic liberalization implemented during the 2000s worsened the corruption; since the chief grantees of the outcomes were businessmen and relatives close to the Assad family; such as Rami Makhlouf.<ref name="Shamaileh 2017 16–17">{{Cite book |last=Shamaileh |first=Ammar |title=Trust and Terror: Social Capital and the Use of Terrorism as a Tool of Resistance |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-138-20173-6 |location= New York |pages=16–17 |chapter=2: Trust, Terror and the Arab Sprind: Egypt, Libya and Syria}}</ref><ref name="Turku 2018 74">{{Cite book |last=Turku |first=Helga |title=The Destruction of Cultural Property as a Weapon of War |publisher=palgrave macmillan |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-319-57281-9 |location= Switzerland |page=74 |chapter=3: Long-Term Security Repercussions of Attacking Cultural Property |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-57282-6_1}}</ref><ref name="Aslan Ozgul 2019 9–10, 41–44, 227">{{Cite book |last=Aslan Ozgul |first=Billur |title=Leading Protests in the Digital Age: Youth Activism in Egypt and Syria |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2019 |isbn=978-3-030-25449-0 |edition=1st |pages=9–10, 41–44, 227 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-25450-6|s2cid=204449526 }}</ref>

Unlike other Arab dictatorships, this feature of the Ba'ath regime and total centralisation of power in the hands of the Assad patriarchs had enabled it to instill apoliticism amongst its citizens; where the ritualisation of state slogans and symbolism had led to de facto compliance. As a result, there are far fewer avenues of free political activism for ordinary Syrians as compared to other Arab states. Until recently, political activism was shunned by many people; instead preferring the stability offered by the regime. The rise of internet and satellite channels and proliferation of civil society groups and independent political activists during the 2000s increasingly began to challenge state monopoly on information, which have led to rising political dissidence amongst the younger generations.<ref name="Aslan Ozgul 2019 9–10, 41–44, 227"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stallard |first=Katie |title=Dancing on Bones: History and Power in China, Russia and North Korea |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-19-757535-2 |location=New York |page=164}}</ref><ref name="Shamaileh 2017 16–17"/><ref name="Turku 2018 74"/> Describing the hardships to raise the political consciousness of Syrian citizens by contrasting their situation with other Arab protestors, Caroline, a Syrian Christian and civic activist imprisoned by regime during the 2011–12 Arab Spring protests, states:<blockquote>"Before the revolution in Egypt, people were allowed to gather, had political parties; people were exposed to political life. In Syria, we were away from politics. We were raised in Syria and our parents used to tell us that we shouldn't talk with anyone about our religion or about politics"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aslan Ozgul |first=Billur |title=Leading Protests in the Digital Age: Youth Activism in Egypt and Syria |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2019 |isbn=978-3-030-25449-0 |edition=1st |pages=43–44 |chapter=2: Egypt and Syria: Similarities and Differences between Two Countries |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-25450-6|s2cid=204449526 }}</ref></blockquote>Since Hafiz al-Assad's seizure of power in 1970; state propaganda has promoted a new national discourse based on unifying Syrians under "a single imagined Ba'athist identity" and Assadism.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Carlos BC |first=Juan |date=9 December 2021 |title=The Assad Family Has Been Shaping Syria for 50 Years |work=Fair Observer |url=https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/juan-carlos-bc-syria-news-bashar-al-assad-syrian-president-arab-world-news-83492/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209173612/https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/juan-carlos-bc-syria-news-bashar-al-assad-syrian-president-arab-world-news-83492/ |archive-date=9 December 2021}}</ref> Fervently loyalist paramilitaries known as the ''Shabiha'' (tr. ghosts) deify the Assad dynasty through slogans such as ''There is no God except Bashar!'' (Arabic: لا إله الا بشار) and pursue psychological warfare against non-conformist populations.

In December 2024, the Assad family's regime collapsed when the rebels entered and captured Damascus, the Syrian capital, during the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives. Assad and his family left Syria for the Russian capital, Moscow, to seek asylum.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Christopher |title=The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2015 |isbn=9780300217179 |location=London |page=131 |chapter=}}</ref>

==Hafez's family== thumb|President Hafez al-Assad with his family in the early 1970s. Left to right: Bashar, Maher, Anisa Makhlouf, Majd, Bushra, and Bassel

===Hafez al-Assad=== {{Ba'athism sidebar}} * '''Hafez al-Assad''' (1930–2000). President of Syria 1971–2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ou.edu/mideast/Additional%20pages%20-%20non-catagory/Zisser_al-Asad_and_his_Regime_2004.htm|title=Bashar al-Asad and his Regime – Between Continuity and Change|author=Eyal Zisser|year=2004|publisher=Orient|access-date=2 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801141031/http://www.ou.edu/mideast/Additional%20pages%20-%20non-catagory/Zisser_al-Asad_and_his_Regime_2004.htm|archive-date=1 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kmak |last2=Björklund |first1=Magdalena |first2=Heta |title=Refugees and Knowledge Production: Europe's Past and Present |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-367-55206-0 |location= Abingdon, Oxon |page=73 |doi=10.4324/9781003092421 |s2cid=246668129}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Turku |first=Helga |title=The Destruction of Cultural Property as a Weapon of War |publisher=palgrave macmillan |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-319-57282-6 |page=74 |chapter=3: Long-Term Security Repercussions of Attacking Cultural Property |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-57282-6}}</ref> * Anisa Makhlouf (1930–2016), wife of Hafez and First Lady of Syria.<ref name="officialjournal">{{cite web|title=Council Implementing Decision|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:087:0103:01:EN:HTML|publisher=European Union|access-date=21 January 2013|archive-date=1 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501204855/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:087:0103:01:EN:HTML|url-status=live}}</ref> ** Bushra al-Assad, died as an infant before 1960.<ref name="Daoud">{{cite web|url=http://www.mideastmonitor.org/issues/0609/0609_5.htm |title=Dossier: Bushra Assad |author=Mohamad Daoud |work=Mideast Monitor |date=October 2006 |access-date=2 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721161959/http://www.mideastmonitor.org/issues/0609/0609_5.htm |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref> ** Bushra al-Assad (born 1960) is a pharmacist and a mother of five children,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1013/Buitenland/article/detail/3320912/2012/09/23/Zus-Assad-heeft-Syrie-verlaten.dhtml|title=Cookies op AD.nl – AD.nl|website=www.ad.nl|access-date=28 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225110/http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1013/Buitenland/article/detail/3320912/2012/09/23/Zus-Assad-heeft-Syrie-verlaten.dhtml|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> and was married to General Assef Shawkat (1950–2012), who was deputy-chief of staff of the Syrian army and the former head of military intelligence. He was killed on 18 July 2012 in a bombing in Damascus, during the Syrian Civil War. ** Bassel al-Assad (1962–1994), was the original candidate for presidential succession but died in a car accident.<ref name="nyt">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/22/world/assad-s-son-killed-in-an-auto-crash.html |title=Asad's son killed in an auto crash |date=22 January 1994 |work=The New York Times |access-date=31 March 2011 |author=William E. Schmidt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209074350/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/22/world/assad-s-son-killed-in-an-auto-crash.html |archive-date=9 February 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> ** '''Bashar al-Assad''' (born 1965), was the President of Syria until 8 December 2024. Before Bassel's death he was an ophthalmologist. He is married to Asma al-Assad (born 1975). She was the First Lady of Syria and took a prominent public role until 8 December 2024. Before being married, she was an investment banker. They have three children (Hafez Bashar, Zein and Karim).<ref name="Bar_S.380" /><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/15/assad-family-live-in-russian-luxury-as-bashar-brushes-up-on-ophthalmology William Christou and Pjotr Sauer: "Assad family live in Russian luxury as Bashar ‘brushes up on ophthalmology’"] The Guardian, 15 December 2025, retrieved 25 December 2025</ref> The couple were also regarded as the "main economic players" in Syria and controlled large parts of Syrian business sectors, banking, telecommunications, real estate, and maritime industries.<ref name="The Syria Report"/> ** {{vanchor|Majd al-Assad}} (1966–2009), was an electrical engineer with a reported history of severe mental problems.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=15FHCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 |title=Madness and Leadership: From Antiquity to the New Common Era |first=Savvas |last=Papacostas |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |date=28 August 2015 |page=156 |isbn=9781784719586 |quote=Majd al-Assad, an electrical engineer, is rumoured to suffer from a mental illness, adding credence to our assertion that leadership and madness are genetically linked.}}</ref> He was married to Ru'a Ayyoub (born 1976) and had no children.<ref>{{cite web|title=Majd Hafiz al-Assad, the younger brother of President Bashar al-Assad, died on Saturday December 12, 2009 at the age of 43 |work=Joshua Landis Blog |url=http://vocesalternativas.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/majd-hafiz-al-assad-the-younger-brother-of-president-bashar-al-assad-died-on-saturday-december-12-2009-at-the-age-of-43-in-joshua-landis-blog/|date=12 December 2009 |access-date=12 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130230833/http://vocesalternativas.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/majd-hafiz-al-assad-the-younger-brother-of-president-bashar-al-assad-died-on-saturday-december-12-2009-at-the-age-of-43-in-joshua-landis-blog/|archive-date=30 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Majd died in Damascus on 12 December 2009 after a long unspecified chronic illness.<ref name="Bar_S.379">{{cite journal|last=Bar |first=Shmuel |title=Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview |journal=Comparative Strategy |year=2006 |volume=25 |issue=5 |page=379 |url=http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |access-date=15 May 2011 |doi=10.1080/01495930601105412 |s2cid=154739379 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723214138/http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web |url=http://www.iloubnan.info/politics/actualite/id/40793 |title=SANA: Bashar al-Assads Youngest Brother Dead |work=iloubnan.info |date=12 December 2010 |access-date=3 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006162034/http://www.iloubnan.info/politics/actualite/id/40793 |archive-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Martin Stäheli: ''Die syrische Außenpolitik unter Hafiz Assad'', Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, {{ISBN|3-515-07867-3}}; p. 42</ref> ** Maher al-Assad (born 1967), is the former commander of the Republican Guard, which are also known as the Presidential Guard, and the army's elite Fourth Armored Division, which together with Syria's secret police form the core of the country's security forces.<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria's military: what does Assad have?|url=https://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE72S19O20110406|work=Reuters|access-date=5 May 2011|date=6 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501081522/http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE72S19O20110406|archive-date=1 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> He is also a member of the Ba'ath Party central command and is said to have an aggressive and uncontrollable personality. He is married and has two daughters.<ref name="Bar_S.379" /><ref name="EUsanctions">{{cite journal|title=Council Decision 2011/273/CFSP of 9 May 2011 concerning restrictive measures against Syria|journal=Official Journal of the European Union|volume=L121/11|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:121:0011:0014:EN:PDF|access-date=10 May 2011|date=10 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516070928/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:121:0011:0014:EN:PDF|archive-date=16 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> He is reported to have been severely disabled in a 2012 bombing in Damascus during the Syrian civil war.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|title=Syria: Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher 'loses leg'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9480363/Syria-Bashar-al-Assads-brother-Maher-loses-leg.html|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=16 August 2012|access-date=16 August 2012|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816181059/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9480363/Syria-Bashar-al-Assads-brother-Maher-loses-leg.html|archive-date=16 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Reuters">{{cite news|title=Assad's feared brother lost leg in bomb attack: sources|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8610SH20120816|newspaper=Reuters|date=16 August 2012|access-date=16 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816084800/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/16/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8610SH20120816|archive-date=16 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> He reportedly shot Assef Shawkat in the stomach in October 1999, during an argument. Maher is also known by many to be the most ruthless in the Al-Assad family.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/10/world/meast/syria-assad-brother/|title=Syrian Maher al-Assad is ruthless aide to brother Bashar, analysts say |author1= Brian Rokus |author2=Brian Todd|publisher=CNN|website=cnn.com|date=10 September 2013 |access-date=28 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329184329/https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/10/world/meast/syria-assad-brother/|archive-date=29 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> He has been linked to "overseeing a captagon factory in al-Basa" and production centres in the Qalamoun Mountains.<ref name="NL">{{Cite document |page=22 |publisher=New Lines Institute |type=Intelligence briefing |title=The Captagon Threat |date=April 2022 |author1=Caroline Rose |author2=Alexander Soderholm}}</ref> He is sanctioned by the US government.<ref name="NL" />

==Hafez's siblings== ===Jamil al-Assad=== * Jamil al-Assad (1932–2004), parliamentarian and commander of a minor militia. Politically marginalized years before his death.<ref name="Bar_S.380"/> <br> Children: ** Mundhir al-Assad (born 1961), was arrested in 2005 at the Beirut Airport while entering Lebanon.<ref name="Bar_S.380" /> He was reported to have been involved in arms smuggling to the Iraqi insurgents.<ref name="Landis">{{cite web|last=Landis|first=Joshua|title=An Asad Arrested for Smuggling Weapons|url=http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2004/07/asad-arrested-for-smuggling-weapons.htm|publisher=Syria Comment|access-date=16 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210105554/http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2004/07/asad-arrested-for-smuggling-weapons.htm|archive-date=10 February 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011, the EU placed sanctions on him for being involved with the Shabbiha militia in the repression of protestors during the Syrian Civil War.<ref name="EUsanctions"/><ref name=EUsanctions2>{{cite journal|title=Council Implementing Decision 2011/302/CFSP of 23 May 2011 Implementing Decision 2011/273/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria|journal=Official Journal of the European Union|volume=L136/91|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:136:0091:0094:EN:PDF|access-date=25 May 2011|date=24 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303035538/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:136:0091:0094:EN:PDF|archive-date=3 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> ** Fawwaz al-Assad (1962–2015), was the first real ''Shabiha'' and gave the meaning known today to the word Shabiha and the concept of Tashbeeh that is to act like a thug.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=15772 |title=The Original Shabiha |publisher=Joshua Landis |date=17 August 2012 |access-date=21 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817224335/http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=15772 |archive-date=17 August 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> He had sanctions placed on him in 2011 by the EU for being involved with the Shabbiha militia in the repression of protestors during the Syrian Civil War.<ref name="Landis"/><ref name="EUsanctions2"/> ** One daughter is married to Yarob Kanaan, whose father is Ghazi Kanaan (1942–2005), who in 2005 during his term as interior minister presumably killed himself. The Kanaans come from the Kalabiyya tribe.<ref name=Bar_S.381>{{cite journal|last=Bar |first=Shmuel |title=Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview |journal=Comparative Strategy |year=2006 |volume=25 |issue=5 |page=381 |url=http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |access-date=15 May 2011 |doi=10.1080/01495930601105412 |s2cid=154739379 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723214138/http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}</ref>

===Rifaat al-Assad=== [[File:Rifaathafezassad.jpg|thumb|Rifaat al-Assad and Hafez in the early 1980s]] * Rifaat al-Assad (1937–2026). Formerly a powerful security chief and commander of the Defense Companies, who was responsible for the 1982 Hama massacre. After attempting a coup d'état in 1987, he went into exile in France and also lived in London.<ref name="Fisk">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-freedom-democracy-and-human-rights-in-syria-2080463.html|author=Robert Fisk|work=The Independent|title=Freedom, democracy and human rights in Syria – Ribal al-Assad gives our writer a rare insight into the dynasty that has shaped modern Syria|date=16 September 2010|access-date=3 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228082820/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-freedom-democracy-and-human-rights-in-syria-2080463.html|archive-date=28 February 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> He is married with four wives: <br> Amira 'Aziz al-Assad (died 2019), a cousin.<ref name="Bar_S.381"/> <br> Sana' Ismail Makhluf (died 2021), from the family of Hafez's wife.<ref name="Bar_S.381"/> <br> Rajaa Bakrat, from a wealthy Sunni Damascene family.<ref name="Bar_S.381"/> <br> Lina al-Khayer, sister of Hessa bint Tarad al-Shaalan, wife of the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz (1924–2015).<ref name="Bar_S.381"/> <br> Rifaat has a number of children from these marriages, including: ** Ribal al-Assad (born 1975), has lived abroad since he was nine years old; currently he lives in the United States. In an interview in 2010, he denied that his father was involved in the massacre of Hama or that his family's branch was connected to Abdul Halim Khaddam (1932–2020) or Ghazi Kanaan.<ref name="Fisk"/> ** Somar al-Assad, supports his father actively in his opposition to Bashar.<ref name="Bar_S.381"/> ** Lamia, is married to 'Ala al-Fayad, the son of Shafiq Fayadh (former Syrian General).<ref name="Landis"/><ref name="Bar_S.381"/><ref name="Duelfer 103–104">{{cite book|last=Duelfer|first=Charles|title=Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq's WMD|date=30 September 2004|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|pages=103–104|url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/duelfer/Iraqs_WMD_Vol1.pdf|access-date=16 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813044329/http://www.foia.cia.gov/duelfer/Iraqs_WMD_Vol1.pdf|archive-date=13 August 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> ** Mudar al-Assad, is married to May Haydar, daughter of the Syrian multimillionaire Muhammad Haydar.<ref name="Bar_S.382">Shmuel Bar: ''Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview'' In: Comparative Strategy, 25, 2006, Special Issue, p. 382</ref> ** Tumadhir, is married to Mu'ein Nasif Kheirbek also from the Kalabiyya tribe and related to Mohammed Nasif Kheirbek (1937–2015), who is indirectly related by marriage and blood to Abd al-Halim Khaddam, Rafic Hariri (1944–2005) and the influential Homs al-Atassi family.<ref name="Bar_S.381"/> ** Firas al-Assad, accused his cousin, President Bashar, of killing more than 100,000 Alawites and more than half a million Syrians to stay in power.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190807-assads-cousin-the-regime-has-killed-more-than-500000-syrians/ |title=Assad's cousin: The regime has killed more than 500,000 Syrians |website=Middle East Monitor |date=7 August 2019 |access-date=11 January 2021 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108000934/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190807-assads-cousin-the-regime-has-killed-more-than-500000-syrians/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Shalish family=== * Sister of Hafez al-Assad married into the Shalish family. The family through paternal cousin General Dhu al Himma al-Shalish maintains a significant level of influence in the Bashar al-Assad government. The Shalishes are mainly active in the automobile and construction sectors. ** General Dhu al-Himma Shalish (1951–2022), a cousin of Bashar al-Assad, was the head of presidential security and was part of the inner circle of leadership of the Bashar al-Assad government.<ref name=FAHendi>{{cite news|last=Al Hendi|first=Ahed|title=The Structure of Syria's Repression|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67823/ahed-al-hendi/the-structure-of-syrias-repression?page=show|access-date=5 May 2011|newspaper=Foreign Affairs|date=3 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208225404/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67823/ahed-al-hendi/the-structure-of-syrias-repression?page=show|archive-date=8 February 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Biography for Dhu al-Himma Shalish |url=https://www.silobreaker.com/biography-for-dhu-alhimma-shalish-5_2259778338375598080_4 |work=Siloworker |access-date=16 May 2011 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He had sanctions placed on him by the US government for supplying weapons to Saddam Hussein and his government.<ref name="FAHendi"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.treasury.gov/ofac/downloads/sdnlist.txt |title=Alphabetical Listing of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons ("SDN List") |work=US Department of the Treasury |date=31 March 2011 |access-date=3 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316052039/http://www.treasury.gov/ofac/downloads/sdnlist.txt |archive-date=16 March 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 24 June 2011, the EU sanctioned him for being involved in violence against demonstrators during the Syrian Civil War.<ref name=EUsanctions3>{{cite journal|title=Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 611/2011 of 23 June 2011 implementing Regulation(EU) No 442/2011 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria|journal=Official Journal of the European Union|volume=L164/54|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:164:FULL:EN:PDF|access-date=25 June 2011|date=24 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015195015/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:164:FULL:EN:PDF|archive-date=15 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> *** Asef Isa Shalish, nephew of Dhu al-Himma, is the manager of SES, a company that was involved in the weapons trade with Iraq and Iran.<ref name="Bar_S.379"/><ref name="Duelfer 103–104"/><ref name=Bar_S.395>{{cite journal|last=Bar |first=Shmuel |title=Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview |journal=Comparative Strategy |year=2006 |volume=25 |issue=5 |page=395 |url=http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |access-date=15 May 2011 |doi=10.1080/01495930601105412 |s2cid=154739379 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723214138/http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}</ref> ** Riyad Shalish, a cousin of Bashar Assad and the former director of the governmental construction organization the Military Housing Establishment, which during the 1990s he managed to transform into his own company. He made a fortune on construction and contracting deals in Syria involving large scale projects financed by other Arab states. On 24 June 2011, the EU sanctioned him for providing funding to the regime to repress protesters of the Syrian Civil War.<ref name=EUsanctions3/><ref>{{cite web|title=Biography for Riyad Shalish |url=http://www.silobreaker.com/biography-for-riyadh-isa-shalish-5_2259778396407988224_4 |access-date=25 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312041916/http://www.silobreaker.com/biography-for-riyadh-isa-shalish-5_2259778396407988224_4 |archive-date=12 March 2012 }}</ref>

===Ahmed al-Assad=== * Ahmed al-Assad (1910–1975), was an older half-brother of Hafez from Ali's first wife Sa'ada.<ref name=Leverrier>{{cite news|last=Leverrier|first=Ignace|title=In Bashar al-Assad's Syria, the disinformation is also a family affair|url=http://syrie.blog.lemonde.fr/2012/02/25/dans-la-syrie-de-bachar-al-assad-la-desinformation-est-aussi-une-affaire-de-famille/|access-date=8 March 2012|newspaper=Le Monde|date=25 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229003034/http://syrie.blog.lemonde.fr/2012/02/25/dans-la-syrie-de-bachar-al-assad-la-desinformation-est-aussi-une-affaire-de-famille/|archive-date=29 February 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> ** Anwar al-Assad, *** Hilal al-Assad (died 2014), was the president of the Syrian Arabian Horse Association. Hilal was killed on 22 March 2014, during the 2014 Latakia offensive in the battle for a border crossing at Kessab with Turkey in the north of Latakia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/3/24/assad-cousin-killed-in-syrias-latakia |title=Assad cousin killed in Syria's Latakia |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=24 March 2014 }}</ref> **** Suleiman al-Assad, Hilal's son, was arrested in August 2015 after allegedly murdering an off-duty colonel in a 'road rage' incident in Latakia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/alawites-rally-assad-cousin-killed-syria-150809192103838.html|title=Alawites rally after 'Assad's cousin killed officer'|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=28 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011030523/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/alawites-rally-assad-cousin-killed-syria-150809192103838.html|archive-date=11 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> He was sentenced to 20 years in prison but in late 2020 was released after four years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/an-unending-nightmare-bashar-al-assad-s-nephew-is-out-of-prison-41968 |title=An "unending nightmare," Bashar al Assad's nephew is out of prison |website=trtworld.com |date=1 December 2020 |access-date=11 January 2021 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128122349/https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/an-unending-nightmare-bashar-al-assad-s-nephew-is-out-of-prison-41968 |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2024, video of a man being lynched and hung from a crane after the fall of the Assad regime went viral with the claim that it depicted Suleiman, but this was false.<ref>{{Cite web |last=عبده |first=المعتز |date=9 December 2024 |title=حقيقة مقتل سليمان هلال الأسد في اللاذقية |url=https://ahdatharab.com/13462/%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AA%D9%84-%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%AF-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B0%D9%82/ |access-date=9 December 2024 |website=أحداث العرب |language=ar}}</ref> *** Hael al-Assad, was the head of the Military Police of the army's 4th Armoured Division, whose official commander is Maher al-Assad. He is also the director of the prison in which Maher al-Assad keeps his personal prisoners outside of state jurisdiction.<ref name=Leverrier/> *** Haroun al-Assad, is an elected municipal official of the village of Qardaha.<ref name=Leverrier/> *** Daad al-Assad, is married to General Zouheir al-Assad, who was born in 1958 and is a distant cousin. Zouheir al-Assad commanded the 90th Regiment, a unit of some 10,000 men, charged with protecting the capital.<ref name=Leverrier/> **** Karam Al Assad, led a group of Shabiha. He and his group of shabiha led an assault against the peaceful protests during the "night of destiny". The assault ended in two deaths and dozens injured.<ref name=Leverrier/>

===Isma'il al-Assad=== * Isma'il al-Assad (1913–?) was an older half-brother of Hafez from Ali's first wife Sa'ada. ** Tawfiq al-Assad, *** Muhammad al-Assad (died 2015), another leader of the "Struggle companies". He was killed in a dispute with a powerful person over control in the al-Qerdaha area of Latakia province, on 14 March 2015.<ref>{{cite news |author=AFP Al Arabiya News |date=14 March 2015 |title=Assad relative assassinated in Syria |publisher=alarabiya.net |location=Middle East |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/14/Assad-relative-assassinated-in-Syria?bn=1 |url-status=live |access-date=14 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060553/http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/14/Assad-relative-assassinated-in-Syria?bn=1 |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> **** Hussein al-Assad, son of Muhammad. He took over the criminal network of his father and reorganized it into a paramilitary unit, the Lions of Hussein.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Vincent Beshara |author2=Cody Roche |date=11 December 2016 |title=Assad Regime Militias and Shi'ite Jihadis in the Syrian Civil War |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/11/30/assad-regime-militias-and-shiite-jihadis-in-the-syrian-civil-war/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417102127/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2016/11/30/assad-regime-militias-and-shiite-jihadis-in-the-syrian-civil-war/ |archive-date=17 April 2019 |access-date=11 January 2017 |work=Bellingcat}}</ref>

===Ibrahim al-Assad=== * Ibrahim al-Assad, was an older half-brother of Hafez al-Assad from Ali Sulayman's first wife Sa'ada. He was married to Umm Anwar who took over the smuggling business of her son Malek.<ref name="Joshualandis.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=15772 |title=Syria Comment » Archives » "The Original Shabiha," by Mohammad D |publisher=Joshualandis.com |date=17 August 2012 |access-date=21 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817224335/http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=15772 |archive-date=17 August 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> ** Malek al-Assad was the first known smuggler in the Assad family.<ref name="Joshualandis.com"/>

About Hafez's siblings who died early—Bayat, Bahijat and an unknown sister—almost nothing is publicly known.<ref name="Stäheli" />

==Anisa's siblings== ===Makhlouf family=== The Makhloufs belong to the Alawi Haddad tribe,<ref name="Bar_S.381"/><ref name=ivan12nov>{{cite journal|last=Briscoe|first=Ivan|author2=Floor Janssen Rosan Smits|title=Stability and economic recovery after Assad: key steps for Syria's post-conflict transition|journal=Clingendael|date=November 2012|pages=1–51|url=http://www.clingendael.nl/publications/2012/20121100_syria_stability_recovery_cru.pdf|access-date=7 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119054333/http://www.clingendael.nl/publications/2012/20121100_syria_stability_recovery_cru.pdf|archive-date=19 November 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> both Hafez and Rifaat are related through marriage to the Makhloufs. The Makhlouf family rose from humble beginnings to become the financial advisor to Hafez al-Assad after the former President married Makhlouf's sister. The family headed by Mohammad Makhlouf has established a vast financial empire in the telecommunication, retail, banking, power generation, and oil and gas sectors. The net worth of the family was estimated in 2010 to be at least five billion dollars.<ref name="Bar_S.379"/><ref name=CNNMarch2012>{{cite news|last=Tim Lister|first=and Jamie Crawford|title=Meet Syria's wealthiest and most elusive man|url=http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/07/meet-syrias-wealthiest-and-most-elusive-man/|access-date=28 March 2012|newspaper=CNN|date=7 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312020950/http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/07/meet-syrias-wealthiest-and-most-elusive-man/|archive-date=12 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> * Mohammed Makhlouf (1932–2020),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://see.news/syrias-bashar-assad-uncle-dies-of-covid-19/ |title=Syria's Bashar Al-Assad's Uncle Dies of COVID-19 |website=Sada Elbalad |date=12 September 2020 }}</ref> made a fortune, both through management of state companies and in the private sector.<ref>{{cite news|title=US embassy cables: US sought financial pressure on top Syrian officials|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/100578|agency=Wikileaks|work=The Guardian|access-date=16 May 2011|location=London|date=20 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423225557/http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/100578|archive-date=23 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> ** Rami Makhlouf (born 1969), is a wealthy businessman and the main owner of Syriatel.<ref name="Bar_S.379" /> According to the ''Financial Times'' he is thought to control as much as 60% of the economy through his web of business interests that include telecommunications, oil and gas, construction, banking, airlines and retail, and he is widely seen as the business arm of the Assad government.<ref name="EUsanctions"/><ref name=ftpeel/> He is regarded as Syria's wealthiest man – worth approximately 5&nbsp;billion dollars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/26/world/meast/assad-family/index.html?iref=allsearch|title=Getting to know Syria's first family |first= Nicole |last=Dow|publisher=CNN|website=cnn.com|date=26 March 2012 |access-date=28 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011033159/http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/26/world/meast/assad-family/index.html?iref=allsearch|archive-date=11 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, intense dispute arose between Makhlouf and Bashar al-Assad over the issue of backtaxes; which severely damaged Assad's reputation amongst Alawite loyalists.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vohra |first=Anchal |date=15 June 2020 |title=The War Has Arrived Inside the Assad Family |work=Foreign Policy |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/15/rami-makhlouf-bashar-war-has-arrived-inside-the-assad-family/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208193158/https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/15/rami-makhlouf-bashar-war-has-arrived-inside-the-assad-family/ |archive-date=8 December 2022}}</ref> ** Hafez Makhlouf (born 1971), was the deputy director of the General Security Directorate and intelligence chief of the Damascus branch.<ref name="alarabiya18">{{cite news|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/18/227035.html|title=Bomb kills Syria defense minister, Assad's brother-in-law and key aides|date=18 July 2012|newspaper=Al Arabiya|access-date=18 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719080452/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/18/227035.html|archive-date=19 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="EUsanctions"/><ref name=ftpeel>{{cite news|last=Peel|first=Michael|title=Assad's Family Picked up by the West's Radar|url=https://www.ft.com/content/05e5ffcc-70fa-11e0-962a-00144feabdc0|access-date=6 May 2011|newspaper=Financial Times|date=27 April 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130121024538/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/05e5ffcc-70fa-11e0-962a-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss| archive-date=21 January 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Office of Foreign Assets Control: To List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons|url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/SDN-List/Documents/sdnew07.pdf|work=Treasury Department|access-date=7 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903014429/http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/SDN-List/Documents/sdnew07.pdf|archive-date=3 September 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Shadid|first=Anthony|title=Syrian Elite to Fight Protests to 'the End'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/world/middleeast/11makhlouf.html|access-date=11 May 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 May 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110513085736/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/world/middleeast/11makhlouf.html| archive-date= 13 May 2011|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="FAHendi"/> ** Iyad Makhlouf (born 1973), twin of Ihab Makhlouf, is a General Security Directorate officer. The EU, US,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=16 May 2017 |title=U.S. imposes sanctions on Syrians, entities linked to government |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/cnews-us-usa-syria-sanctions-idCAKCN18C2G8-OCATP |access-date=20 May 2022 |archive-date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520095523/https://www.reuters.com/article/cnews-us-usa-syria-sanctions-idCAKCN18C2G8-OCATP |url-status=live }}</ref> and UK<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 May 2022 |title=Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, HM Treasury. Financial Sanctions Notice, Syria |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1076660/Notice_Syria_190522.pdf |access-date=20 May 2022 |archive-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519140140/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1076660/Notice_Syria_190522.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> sanctioned him for being involved in violence against the civilian population during the Syrian Civil War.<ref name="EUsanctions2"/> ** Ihab Makhlouf (1973–2024), twin of Iyad Makhlouf, was former Vice-Chairman of Syriatel<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 May 2017 |title=U.S. imposes sanctions on Syrians, entities linked to government |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/cnews-us-usa-syria-sanctions-idCAKCN18C2G8-OCATP |access-date=23 May 2022 |archive-date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520095523/https://www.reuters.com/article/cnews-us-usa-syria-sanctions-idCAKCN18C2G8-OCATP |url-status=live }}</ref> and caretaker for Rami Makhlouf's US company. The EU sanctioned him for providing funding to the Assad government and allowing violence against demonstrators in the Syrian Civil War.<ref name="EUsanctions2"/> He was believed to be in charge of the sniper units that were being used to shoot at protestors in the uprising.<ref>{{cite news|last=Trombetta|first=Lorenzo|title=Le sanzioni americane colpiscono i boss dell'apparato repressivo (American sanctions target the leaders of repression)|url=http://www.europaquotidiano.it/dettaglio/126221/le_sanzioni_americane_colpiscono_i_boss_dellapparato_repressivo|access-date=9 May 2011|newspaper=Europa|date=27 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430035845/http://www.europaquotidiano.it/dettaglio/126221/le_sanzioni_americane_colpiscono_i_boss_dellapparato_repressivo|archive-date=30 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was killed in his car on 8 December 2024, after the Fall of the Assad regime. * Fatima Makhlouf, sister of Anisa Makhlouf. ** Atef Najib (born 1960), is the former head of Political Security Directorate in Deraa.<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography for Atif Najib|url=http://www.silobreaker.com/biography-for-atif-najib-5_2259857699539779628_4|work=Silobreaker|publisher=Able2Act|access-date=17 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312041734/http://www.silobreaker.com/biography-for-atif-najib-5_2259857699539779628_4|archive-date=12 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The EU sanctioned him for being involved in violence against demonstrators in the Syrian civil war.<ref name="EUsanctions"/> * General Adnan Makhlouf, first cousin of Anisa, former commander of the Republican Guard.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikileaks.org/cable/1994/02/94DAMASCUS660.html#|title=Cable Viewer|publisher=Wikileaks|date=7 February 1994|access-date=21 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213001517/https://wikileaks.org/cable/1994/02/94DAMASCUS660.html|archive-date=13 February 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> * General Talal Makhlouf, cousin of Anisa, former commander of the Republican Guard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blacklist.pro-justice.org/criminal/talal-shafiq-makhlouf/|title=Talal Shafiq Makhlouf|website=Pro Justice|access-date=21 February 2024|archive-date=21 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221074029/https://blacklist.pro-justice.org/criminal/talal-shafiq-makhlouf/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Hafez's cousins== * Namir al-Assad, reportedly established the Shabiha with Rifaat al-Assad in the 1980s and controlled the organized smuggling networks, anchored in Latakia's port.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Hugh Macleod |author2=Annasofie Flamand |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1212059--inside-syria-s-shabiha-death-squads?bn=1 |title=Inside Syria's shabiha death squads |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=15 June 2012 |access-date=21 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815150628/http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1212059--inside-syria-s-shabiha-death-squads?bn=1 |archive-date=15 August 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> * Adnan al-Assad, leader of "Struggle Companies" militia in Damascus.<ref name=PSeale>{{cite book|last=Seale|first=Patrick|title=Asad of Syria: the struggle for the Middle East|year=1988|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-06667-7|page=429|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_rlPwgezoUC&q=struggle+companies&pg=PA496}}</ref> * Shafiq Fayadh (1937–2015), cousin of Hafez from his aunt in the village of Ayn al-Arus in Jableh. Commander of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Division 1973–78.<ref name=Batatu1999>{{cite book|author=Hanna Batatu|title=Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_Cvhg3YHIoC&pg=PA228|year=1999|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-00254-5|page=220|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231140754/http://books.google.com/books?id=4_Cvhg3YHIoC&pg=PA228|archive-date=31 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Commander of the 3rd Armored Division since 1978.<ref>{{cite web|title=Syria's Praetorian Guards: A Primer|url=http://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0008_s2.htm|work=Middle East Intelligence Bulletin|publisher=Vol. 2 No. 7 (5 August 2000)|access-date=20 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704135413/http://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0008_s2.htm|archive-date=4 July 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Reportedly incapacitated in 1991/92 due to a heart attack.<ref name=Batatu1999/> Batatu describes him as an army corps general.

==Other relatives== * Numeir al-Assad, second degree cousin of Hafez's children, led the Shabiha in Latakia.<ref name="Bar_S.380" /> He was imprisoned following a heist in 2005 at Sednaya Prison and remained there until December 2024. He was later recaptured in October 2025.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.enabbaladi.net/778888/من-هو-نمير-الأسد-الذي-اعتقلته-الداخلية/ |title=من هو نمير الأسد الذي اعتقلته “الداخلية السورية” |publisher=enabbaladi.net |language=ar |date=16 October 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://yallasyrianews.com/article/من-الإعدام-إلى-الحرية-وعودة-إلى-الجريمة-قصة-نمير-الأسد-بعد-20-عاما-في-السجن |title=من الإعدام إلى الحرية وعودة إلى الجريمة: قصة نمير الأسد بعد 20 عاماً في السجن |publisher=yallasyrianews.com |language=ar |date=17 October 2025 }}</ref> * Nizar al-Assad, is a cousin of Bashar Al-Assad. He was the head of the Nizar Oilfield Supplies company. He was sanctioned by the EU for being very close to key government officials and for financing Shabiha in the region of Latakia.<ref name=EUsanctions3/> * Fawaz al-Assad, nephew of Hafez, leader of Shabiha{{sfnp|Cooper|2015|p=20}} * Mundhir al-Assad, nephew of Hafez, leader of Shabiha{{sfnp|Cooper|2015|p=20}} * Samer al-Assad, son of Kamal and grandson of Ismael who was a half-brother of Hafez al-Assad, runs one of several Captagon factories in Al-Bassah.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/italien-hat-der-islamische-staat-14-tonnen-captagon-tabletten-geschmuggelt-a-5501a79f-096b-4998-9d29-0b95594fe359 |title=Echte Drogen, falsche Dschihadisten |website=spiegel.de |language=de |date=3 July 2020 |access-date=10 July 2020 |archive-date=8 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708005659/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/italien-hat-der-islamische-staat-14-tonnen-captagon-tabletten-geschmuggelt-a-5501a79f-096b-4998-9d29-0b95594fe359 |url-status=live }}</ref> * Duraid Assad, husband of Rasha Khazem and the father of Shams Assad. Rasha and Shams Assad were smuggled into Lebanon after the fall of the Assad Regime and were arrested in the Beirut international airport because of owning a fake passport.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 December 2024 |title=Two relatives of Assad 'arrested at Beirut airport with fake passports' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/two-relatives-assad-arrested-beirut-132605138.html |access-date=30 December 2024 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref> * Wassim al-Assad, cousin of Bashar al-Assad and a former militia leader. Arrested in June 2025 by Syrian authorities for drug trafficking and war crimes after years of leading pro-regime militias and operating in the Captagon trade.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 June 2025 |title=Syrian authorities arrest Bashar Assad's cousin on drug trafficking charges |url=https://apnews.com/article/0d933ec400d308e6116a87e6c3353e98 |access-date=21 June 2025 |website=AP News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 June 2025 |title=Syrian security forces detain cousin of toppled leader Assad |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrian-security-forces-detain-cousin-toppled-leader-assad-2025-06-21/ |access-date=21 June 2025 |website=Reuters |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Alsayed {{!}} AP |first=Ghaith |date=21 June 2025 |title=Syrian authorities arrest Bashar Assad's cousin on drug trafficking charges |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/21/syria-wassim-assad-drugs-captagon/56f2f422-4e91-11f0-8fff-262d6ec54ab9_story.html |access-date=21 June 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> * Ammar al-Assad, cousin of Bashar al-Assad. Known for early involvement in smuggling and local criminal networks in Latakia, reportedly under the protection of his uncle Jamil al-Assad.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 July 2015 |title=The Assad Family: Who Rules Syria? |url=https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/article/13514/ |access-date=21 June 2025 |website=Zaman al-Wasl |language=en}}</ref>

==See also== * List of political families * Tulfah family * Sharaa family

==References== ; Citations {{Reflist}}

; Bibliography * {{Cite book|title=Middle Eastern Leaders and Islam: A Precarious Equilibrium |last=Alianak |first=Sonia |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2007 |isbn=9780820469249}} * {{cite book |last = Cooper |first = Tom |author-link1= Tom Cooper (author)|title= Syrian Conflagration. The Civil War 2011–2013 |date= 2015 |publisher= Helion & Company Limited |location= Solihull |isbn= 978-1-910294-10-9 }} * {{Cite book |title=Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East |last=Seale |first=Patrick |publisher=University of California Press |year=1990 |isbn=9780520069763 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/asadofsyriastrug00seal }} * {{Cite book|title=The Assads' Syria |last=Zahler |first=Kathy A. |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |year=2009 |isbn=9780822590958}}

==External links== {{commons category|Assad family}} * [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2012/02/bashar_al_assad_syria_s_autocratic_ophthalmologist.html Syria's First Family], Slate Magazine, 10 February 2012 * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13216195 Bashar al-Assad's inner circle], BBC, 10 May 2011 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121028142012/http://www.cfr.org/syria/syrias-leaders/p9085 Syria's Leaders], Esther Pan, Council on Foreign Relations, 10 March 2006 {{Authority control}}

Category:Assad family Category:Ba'athism Category:Syrian families Category:Political families of Syria Category:Syrian Alawites