Ribal al-Assad
Ribal al-Assad ( Arabic ريبال الأسد; * June 4, 1975 in Damascus ) is a Syrian businessman and opposition activist. He is the founder and director of the Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria and the chairman and founder of the Iman Foundation.
Life
Ribal al-Assad was born in Damascus in 1975 as the 13th of 16 siblings. His parents are Rifaat al-Assad and his third wife Lina al-Khayer, a sister-in-law of the late Saudi King Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz , and thus belong to the extended family of the Syrian ruling family al-Assad . His father was for a long time the "right hand man" of his older brother Hafiz al-Assad , as such he was temporarily Minister of Defense and later served as Vice President of Syria. After his father fell out with his brother in 1982 and carried out a failed coup attempt in 1983, the family had to go into exile.
As a result, al-Assad lived abroad from the age of nine. His family moved to Paris , where he stayed until he was 16. Since his family was threatened by the Muslim Brotherhood even in exile , he had to be accompanied to school by bodyguards .
From the beginning of the 1990s he lived in the United States , where he later studied at Boston University .
Later he worked as a businessman in import and export between China and the Arab world .
In 2006 he became chairman of the Arabic News Network (ANN), which was founded in 1997 . He later left the station due to a disagreement. In 2009 he founded the Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria and became its director. He is also the founder and chairman of the Iman Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting dialogue between cultures and religions.
He also often comments on politics and current events in Syria on television and in the print media.
He has been critical of the Syrian National Council since it was founded.
In an interview with Robert Fisk in 2010, he denied his father's involvement in the Hama massacre or connections between his family branch and Abd al-Halim Chaddam or Ghazi Kanaan.
In addition to Arabic , Ribal al-Assad speaks fluent French and English . He is married to Joanna Al Assad.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Shmuel Bar: Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview. In: Comparative Strategy. 25, 2006, Special Issue, p. 381
- ↑ a b c d e Robert Fisk: Freedom, democracy and human rights in Syria - Ribal al-Assad gives our writer a rare insight into the dynasty that has shaped modern Syria. In: The Independent. September 16, 2010, accessed February 18, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.odf-syria.org/news/news/ribal-alassad-speaks-at-the-2009-next-century-foundation-international-media-awards-london
- ^ The Iman Foundation. Retrieved January 29, 2016 .
- ↑ http://www.iman-worldwide.org/newsroom/our-news/london-iman-hosts-conference-islamism-a-global-threat
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Assad, Ribal al- |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Syrian businessman and opposition activist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th June 1975 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Damascus |