Maher al-Assad

Maher al-Assad (, born 8 December 1967) is a Syrian general and commander of the Republican Guard and the army's elite Fourth Armoured Division, which together with Syria's Military Intelligence form the core of the country's security forces. He is also a member of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath Party's Syrian Regional Branch. At the onset of the Syrian Revolution, Maher was thought by some to be the second-most powerful man in Syria after his brother Bashar, the president. However, his base of influence is not considered strong enough to directly defy the reign of Bashar. Maher is considered a regime hardliner, who reportedly favored the crackdown against Damascus Spring movement and has been implicated in UN reports of orchestrating the killing of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Maher oversaw the brutal crackdown against Syrian protestors at Daraa, which led to US and EU announcing sanctions on him. Maher is described by analysts as preferring Iran (as opposed to Russia) to play the largest role as the Syrian Government's main ally during the Syrian Civil War and subsequent post-war reconstruction. This is in contrast to the position of Major General Suheil al-Hassan, commander of the Division 25 Special Mission Forces who has gained much influence as a result of his activities during the Syrian Civil War, who was reported as preferring Russia. However, it was reported in 2021 that Maher was part of the Ba'athist faction that demanded the end of Iranian presence in Syria, so as to promote regional rapprochement with neighboring Arab countries. Maher al-Assad also supervised operations of the dreaded Shabiha squads, pro-Assad Alawite paramilitaries known for sectarian attacks against Sunni civilians. As the commander of Fourth Armoured Division, Maher is directly involved in the production, trafficking and export operations of Syria's multi-billion dollar drug empire, which mostly smuggles an illegal drug known as Captagon.