Jamil al-Assad
Jamil al-Assad (
1933-
2004) was a brother of former
Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, and the uncle of present Syrian leader
Bashar al-Assad. He served in the
parliament, called the
majlis ash-sha'b for many years, until his death.
Of the three Assad brothers, Hafez and
Rifaat both have a military background and have played major roles in the Syrian government. While Jamil was certainly influential, he was not very involved in the military, and generally kept a lower profile in politics. However, he did hold various government offices, and grew very wealthy during the rule of his brother.
While both his brothers enforced
secularism, Jamil was said to be deeply religious. In the
1980s, he set up a
Latakia-based foundation (
al-Murtada), which helped fellow
Alawite Muslims to go on the
Hajj pilgrimage to
Mecca. The foundation is also said to have tried to convert
Sunni Muslim
bedouins to the Alawi faith. Whether true or not, the rumours caused friction with the majority Sunni population, many of which resented Alawi rule. In 1983, Hafez al-Assad decided to shut down the foundation.
Al-Murtada is also said to have had a minor militia wing, made up by Alawi muslims, which was armed and equipped by Rifaat's powerful internal security division, the
Defense Companies.
When Rifaat attempted in 1984 to exploit the failing health of Hafez, using the
Defense Companies to stage a failed
coup d'êtat, this cast doubt on Jamil in the eyes of Hafez. Some of his assets are reported to have been confiscated in retaliation, but there is little doubt he remained a very wealthy man.
Unlike Rifat, Jamil openly supported the succession to the presidency of Hafez' son, Bashar al-Assad. He spent much of the last years of his life in
France (where Rifaat lives in exile), but still visited Syria occasionally.
Jamil al-Assad died in december 2004 at age 71.http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/041216/2004121618.html
Syria expert Joshua Landis states that Jamil for a period during the 1980s claimed he was
al-Mahdi al-Muntadhir, the awaited savior
Imam of
Shia Islam. [
1]
*
Website of Joshua Landis 
