Al Majalla is releasing exclusive photographs of Maher al-Assad, who commanded Syria’s Republican Guard and its elite Fourth Armoured Division before fleeing to Russia with his brother Bashar al-Assad, the former Syrian president, in December 2024, where they both now live in exile.
Maher once oversaw a vast commercial empire that included the production and export of drugs, namely Captagon.
Research by the Newlines Institute in the United States found that under his leadership, the Fourth Division amassed influence and financial autonomy to such an extent that it resembled ‘a state within a state’.
The photos date back several years and show Maher during his travels in Europe and while touring Syria. Born on 8 December 1967, he studied in Damascus.
After the death of his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000 and Bashar’s rise to power, Maher’s influence in the army and the ruling Baath Party grew.
He became known for his hard-line approach to the opposition and led the violent crackdown on protests in 2011. He appeared in UN report into the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Maher was widely seen as more closely aligned with Iran and Hezbollah, whereas others exercising influence favoured Russia as Syria’s principal partner.
As Idlib-based opposition fighters launched an attack on Aleppo, Hama, and Homs in November and December 2024, Maher’s Fourth Division forces quickly disintegrated.
A Reuters investigation last week revealed that two of Bashar al-Assad’s former closest associates were spending millions of dollars to recruit tens of thousands of fighters to trigger new uprisings against the current government. These are Maj. Gen. Kamal Hassan and Assad’s cousin, the billionaire Rami Makhlouf. They are recruiting from within the Alawite community, to which the Assad family belongs.
According to four sources close to the family, Maher al-Assad still has the loyalty of thousands of former soldiers but has not yet provided funding or issued instructions.
Two individuals familiar with Hassan’s movements said he met Maher only once since 2024. Maher’s illicit activities and lead role in the violent suppression of protests prompted the US, UK, and EU to impose targeted sanctions on him.
Makhlouf has shown no wish to seek the support of the Assad family and has publicly mocked his cousins Bashar and Maher, referring to them as “the fugitives.”
Three sources said Hassan was relying on his links with the Assads and was seeking Maher’s endorsement. Russia has so far stopped short of backing any challenge in Syria from the old order. Moscow’s priority is to preserve access to its Syrian military bases.
Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa visited Moscow in October and met Russian President Vladimir Putin. Negotiations continue over the future of the Russian bases at Hmeimim and Tartus on Syria’s western coast.
As these talks unfold, the newly released photographs offer a rare glimpse into Maher al-Assad’s life before the collapse, a quiet counterpoint to his present existence in Moscow’s political shadows.
