Maher al-Assad
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Lt. Col. Maher al-Assad (born 1968) 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 only two years before his father assumed power. 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 was chosen.
Maher al-Assad is a member of the ruling Ba'th 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. 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.
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