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Assad's feared brother lost leg in bomb attack: sources
Source: Reuters
Assad's feared brother lost leg in bomb attack: sources
By Dominic Evans
BEIRUT | Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:09pm EDT
(Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's feared brother Maher lost a leg in a bomb attack on the Syrian leader's security cabinet a month ago, sources said on Thursday, in a severe blow to one of the main military commanders fighting a 17-month-old insurgency.
The attack on a meeting of Assad's security chiefs in Damascus on July 18 killed four members of the president's inner circle, including his brother-in-law, and emboldened the rebels to take their fight to the capital for the first time.
Maher has not been seen in public since the bombing, while Assad himself has restricted appearances to recorded clips broadcast on television, leading to speculation about the effectiveness of the leadership as the rebellion grows.
Maher, a close associate of the president, has acquired a fearsome reputation as the commander of the Syrian army's Republican Guard and 4th Division, elite formations largely composed of troops from the Assads' minority Alawite sect, whose loyalty can be relied on in the fight against the rebels.
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By Dominic Evans
BEIRUT | Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:09pm EDT
(Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's feared brother Maher lost a leg in a bomb attack on the Syrian leader's security cabinet a month ago, sources said on Thursday, in a severe blow to one of the main military commanders fighting a 17-month-old insurgency.
The attack on a meeting of Assad's security chiefs in Damascus on July 18 killed four members of the president's inner circle, including his brother-in-law, and emboldened the rebels to take their fight to the capital for the first time.
Maher has not been seen in public since the bombing, while Assad himself has restricted appearances to recorded clips broadcast on television, leading to speculation about the effectiveness of the leadership as the rebellion grows.
Maher, a close associate of the president, has acquired a fearsome reputation as the commander of the Syrian army's Republican Guard and 4th Division, elite formations largely composed of troops from the Assads' minority Alawite sect, whose loyalty can be relied on in the fight against the rebels.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/16/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8610SH20120816
