Ribal al-Assad (; born 4 June 1975) is a Syrian businessman and political activist. He is the founder and director of the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria (ODFS) and the chairman and founder of the Iman Foundation.

Early life and family

Ribal al-Assad was born in Damascus, the 13th of 16 siblings. He is the son of

Rifaat al-Assad Rifaat Ali al-Assad (; born 22 August 1937) is a Syrian former military officer and politician. He is the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, and Jamil al-Assad, and the uncle of the former President Bashar al-Assad. ...

and his third wife Line Al-Khayer, sister-in-law of the late Saudi

king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (, ; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1 August 2005 until his death in 2015. Prior to his accession, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia si ...

, and is thus a member of the

Assad family The Assad family ruled Syria from 1971, when Hafez al-Assad became president under the Ba'ath Party following the 1970 coup, until Bashar al-Assad was ousted on 8 December 2024. Bashar succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, after Hafez's deat ...

. His father, Rifaat al-Assad, a younger brother of President

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

, was a security chief and commander of the Defense Companies, who was responsible for the

1982 Hama massacre The Hama massacre () occurred in February 1982 when the Syrian Arab Army and the Defense Companies paramilitary force, under the orders of President Hafez al-Assad, besieged the town of Hama for 27 days in order to quell an uprising by ...

. After attempting a coup d'état, he and his family went into exile in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, then the UK. Ribal, at the age of 9, and his family then moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he continued to live until the age of 16. At the age of 16, al-Assad moved to the United States and began high school in New York and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, before attending university in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the InterAmerican University, New York, US and an MA from the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

, United Kingdom.

Political activism

In 2006, al-Assad became director of the London Bureau of the

Arab News Network Arab News Network (ANN) was an Arab news channel broadcast on satellite from London. History and profile ANN was established in 1997. The channel is currently owned by Siwar al Assad, a first cousin of the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. Th ...

(ANN), a family owned television channel founded in 1997. After he left ANN, he founded the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria (ODFS) in 2009 and became its director. The organization did not gain prominence until 2010, when

Robert Fisk Robert William Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was an English writer and journalist. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. As an international correspo ...

of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' interviewed Ribal al-Assad. Of his cousin,

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

, Ribal said: "He is still governing under the ghost of his father. Each person in Syria has an interest in the secret service. Bashar should have declared national unity as soon as he took over. He did things bit by bit, with internet cafes and so on. But it was not enough. There was no real change." Al-Assad also appears from time to time on TV and in the print media as a commentator on politics and current events. Ribal has been critical of the

Syrian National Council The Syrian National Council (SNC), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, was a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil upris ...

since its inception. He said it has been overwhelmingly made up of members of the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

, who were not elected through a democratic process but hand-picked by Turkey and Qatar. He has also been critical of the Free Syria Army (saying it was made of Islamist extremist groups) and its Supreme Military Council (saying it was exclusively made up of Salafi extremist groups). After the

fall of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turk ...

in 2024, al-Assad voiced skepticism regarding the takeover by Syrian rebels. Ribal al-Assad’s work as Chairman of the Iman Foundation has focused on promoting interfaith and inter cultural dialogue and challenging extremism across the world. The organisation is not-for-profit and is committed to "promoting inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, intra-religious dialogue and challenging extremism and promoting mainstream voices".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assad, Ribal 1975 births Living people Ribal Syrian businesspeople Syrian democracy activists Syrian dissidents Alumni of the University of Leicester