Syria's Rifaat al-Assad flew to Dubai, officials say

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Syria’s Rifaat al-Assad flew to Dubai, officials say

September 30, 2025

BEIRUT,— Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of ex-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has flown from Beirut to Dubai, two Lebanese security officials told Reuters.

The trip follows Swiss war crimes charges against Rifaat for his role in violently quelling a 1982 Muslim Brotherhood revolt in Hama, Syria.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, between 30,000 and 40,000 civilians were killed during the crackdown.

The officials said several Assad family members traveled to Dubai after Bashar al-Assad was ousted on December 8, 2024, while others stayed in Lebanon. Lebanese authorities have not received any Interpol requests to arrest Rifaat or other family members.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide immediate comment.

Rifaat al-Assad, in his late 80s, is the brother of the late Hafez al-Assad. Swiss prosecutors charged him with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his actions in Hama.

The case has been referred for trial, but officials suggest it may be postponed because of Rifaat’s health. He denies wrongdoing.

The Hama massacre is seen by analysts as a precursor to the harsh response to uprisings by Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

Earlier in December 2024, Islamist rebels took control of Hama. Their leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, also called Abu Mohammad al-Golani, said the uprising would address a decades-old wound from Rifaat al-Assad’s crackdown.

Rifaat was once a top figure in the Syrian government and helped Hafez al-Assad rise to power in 1970. After a failed attempt to seize the presidency in the 1980s, he lived in exile in Switzerland, Spain, and France.

In 2020, a French court convicted him of using misappropriated Syrian state funds to buy luxury real estate. He returned to Syria in 2021.

Separately, Lebanese authorities detained the wife and daughter of Rifaat’s son, Duraid, at Beirut airport on Friday for attempting to travel on expired passports that had been altered.

Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Bouthaina Shaaban, a senior Assad adviser, left Beirut after entering the country legally. He added that other Syrian officials who entered Lebanon illegally are being sought.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Lebanon would comply with Interpol requests, including the potential arrest of former Syrian intelligence officer Jamil Hassan, who U.S. authorities accuse of committing war crimes under Bashar al-Assad.