Ribal al-Assad

Ribal al-Assad (born 4 June 1975) is an international campaigner for democracy, freedom and human rights. He is the son of Rifaat al-Assad and Line Al-Khayer and is married to Joanna Al Assad. His brothers include Siwar Al-Assad, author of the French novel, ‘À coeur perdu' and Somar al-Assad, who founded A.N.N., Arab News Network TV channel and the Arab People Party in 1997. He is also the first cousin to and lifelong opponent of Bashar Al-Assad.

Ribal is the Founder and Director of the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria (ODFS) and the Chairman and Founder of The Iman Foundation which seeks to promote inter-religious and cultural dialogue and to challenge extremism.

Ribal Al Assad was exiled from Syria as a child by the government and has since worked for over a decade for a peaceful transition to freedom, democracy and human rights in his country.

As well as being an advocate for universal democratic rights in Syria, Ribal Al Assad has also been notably outspoken against religious political groups and theocracy and has publicly criticized bodies including the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Al-Nusra, ISIS, Hamas and the government of Iran. He has also been critical of the Syrian National Council, and its undemocratic selection of members by Turkey and Qatar, a majority of whom are members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Equally, his criticisms of the Free Syria Army have concerned its inclusion of Islamist extremist groups and its exclusive Salafi extremist Supreme Military Council. He has, since 2010 called upon the International Community to come together in order to establish peace and stability in Syria.

Ribal al-Assad has several charitable and business interests and speaks Arabic, French, Spanish and English fluently.

Ribal was born in Damascus, the 13th of 16 siblings. His mother, an optometrist, ran a free clinic for the poor in Damascus. His father, Dr Rifaat al-Assad, was Head of Higher Education, a senior military figure and nominal vice-President between 1984 and 1998, and the younger brother of the late President Hafez Al-Assad.

As a child, Ribal was surrounded by democratic influences. His father founded Al-Fursan, the first and only Arab Magazine in the Middle East promoting Democracy and Freedom. Ribal was encouraged to read regular features explaining the importance of political pluralism and freedom to Syria and the Middle East. His father also promoted education (building the Universities of Lattakia and Homs and extending the University of Aleppo) and the advancement of women in military and civilian society. His mother, Line Al-Khayer, a beneficiary of this policy, trained as a paratrooper.

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