Rifaat al-Assad

**Rifaat Ali al-Assad** (; 22 August 1937 – 20 January 2026) was a Syrian military officer and politician who was the Vice President of Syria from 1984 to 1998. He was the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, and the uncle of former President Bashar al-Assad. He was known for being the commanding officer of the ground operations of the 1982 Hama massacre.

## 1984 coup attempt

He led the failed coup attempt against his borther Hafez al-Assad in 1984. Tens of thousands of soldiers with armored vehicles (some supported Rifaat, some supported Hafez) got together in the capital Damascus and were ready for a military fight. Because of the division within the military, the coup failed and as a compromise, Rifaat was made vice president.

However, after Rifaat became unhappy with the less powerful role as vice president, he chose to live in exile in Europe for 36 years and returned to Syria in October 2021.

## Criminal charges

In 2021, he found guilty in France of getting millions of euros diverted from Syria. In September 2022, France's highest court, the Cour de Cassation, confirmed the ruling.

In August 2023, Switzerland sent out a warrant for Rifaat's arrest after its Federal Criminal Court wanted him to be prosecuted for his role in the 1982 Hama massacre. The warrant was issued as part of a set of war crimes charges filed in 2013 by the human rights organization "TRIAL International" at the Swiss Office of Attorney General. In March 2024, the Swiss OAG charged Rifaat with many crimes done in the February 1982 Hama massacre.

## Later years

During the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Rifaat left for Lebanon before moving to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 26 December. The next day, his daughter-in-law Rasha Khazem, the wife of his son Duraid Assad, was arrested along with her daughter Shams in Lebanon while they were trying to fly out to Egypt.

Rifaat died on 20 January 2026 in Dubai from problems caused by the influenza at the age of 88.

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **honorific-prefix**: Major General
- **image**: Rifaat al-Assad, commander of the Defense Corps in the 1980s.png
- **caption**: Assad,
- **name**: Rifaat al-Assad
- **native name lang**: ar
- **office**: Vice President of Syria
- **president**: Hafez al-Assad
- **alongside**: Abdul Halim Khaddam and Zuhair Masharqa
- **term start**: 11 March 1984
- **term end**: 8 February 1998
- **office1**: Member of the Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Syrian Regional Branch
- **term start1**: 15 April 1975
- **term end1**: 8 February 1998
- **party**: Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Ba'ath Party
- **alma mater**: Damascus University (Bachelor of Arts, BA), Soviet Academy of Sciences (Doctor of Philosophy, PhD)
- **birth place**: Qardaha, First Syrian Republic, Syrian Republic
- **death place**: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- **allegiance**:
(1958–1961)
 Second Syrian Republic (1961–1963)

(1963–1984)
- **branch**: Syrian Arab Army
 Defense Companies (Syria), Defense Companies
- **serviceyears**: 1958–1984
- **rank**:  Major General
- **commands**: Defense Companies (Syria), Defense Companies
- **battles**: * Six-Day War
* Corrective Movement (Syria), 1970 Corrective Coup
* Yom Kippur War
* Lebanese civil war
* Islamist uprising in Syria
** 1982 Hama massacre
* 1984 Syrian coup attempt
* 1999 Latakia protests
- **native name lang**: ar
- **children**:
Ribal al-Assad
- **spouse**: Amira al-Assad
Sana' Makhluf
Rajaa Bakrat
Lina al-Khayer
- **father**: Ali al-Assad
- **relatives**: Jamil al-Assad (brother)
 Hafez al-Assad (brother)
 Bashar al-Assad (nephew)
 Maher al-Assad (nephew)