Rifaat al-Assad, brother of Syria's ex-president, dies at 88 in UAE

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Rifaat al-Assad, brother of Syria’s ex-president, dies at 88 in UAE

January 21, 2026

DUBAI,— Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and a central figure in one of Syria’s most violent episodes, has died at the age of 88 in the United Arab Emirates, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Born in Qardaha, a village in Syria’s coastal mountains, Rifaat rose to prominence after helping his brother seize power in a 1970 coup. He became known for commanding elite units that crushed a 1982 Islamist uprising in Hama, a campaign that lasted three weeks and left thousands dead. Independent estimates from the Syrian Network for Human Rights later suggested the toll may have reached 40,000 civilians. Swiss authorities announced plans in 2024 to try Rifaat for war crimes and crimes against humanity over the assault, allegations his lawyers have long denied.

Rifaat’s ambitions extended beyond the battlefield. After Hafez’s death in 2000, he challenged the succession of his nephew, Bashar al-Assad, declaring himself the legitimate heir, though the effort never gained traction. During Syria’s 2011 uprising, Rifaat, then living abroad, called for Bashar to step down to avoid civil war but attributed the unrest to cumulative government failures rather than solely to the president.

Following decades in exile, Rifaat returned to Syria in 2021 amid legal troubles in Europe. A French court had convicted him in 2020 of acquiring millions of euros in property using diverted Syrian state funds, seizing assets in France and London.

He consistently denied wrongdoing. After Bashar al-Assad’s fall in 2024, Rifaat attempted to flee Syria through a Russian airbase but was denied entry, eventually crossing into Lebanon with the help of an associate.

In December 2024, he flew from Beirut to Dubai, according to two Lebanese security officials.

Rifaat’s rivalry with Hafez al-Assad marked his political career. Appointed vice president in 1984, he briefly pressed for power while Hafez was ill, deploying troops in Damascus in a confrontation that could have escalated into a civil conflict.

Hafez defused the standoff, and Rifaat left Syria for Europe, where he became a wealthy businessman, residing in Switzerland, France, and Spain, often seen in Marbella’s Puerto Banus with a security entourage.

He made brief returns to Syria, including in 1992 for his mother’s funeral, and again in 2021, reportedly to avoid imprisonment in France. Social media images in 2023 showed him with Bashar al-Assad, signaling a return to public visibility.

Rifaat al-Assad’s life was defined by power, exile, and controversy. His actions in Hama and his decades-long political maneuvering illustrate the enduring complexity and turbulence of Syria’s modern history.

(With files from Reuters)