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Maher al-Assad Is Angry! - The Syrian Observer

sooda

Veteran Member
Maher al-Assad Is Angry! - The Syrian Observer
Maher al-Assad Is Angry! - The Syrian Observermaher-al-assad-is-angry.html
Maher al-Assad Is Angry! Thursday July 4th, 2019 by Al-Modon (Lebanese news website) Major General Maher al-Assad, brother of the president, is agitated by the investigations that have targeted some of his closest allies writes Al-Modon.

Excerpt:
The sources said that Major General Assad, one of the most powerful figures in Syria, had expressed anger recently at what had happened in terms of the prosecution of his office manager, Brigadier General Ghassan Bilal, and the businessman Naeem al-Jarah.

Bilal, who is Assad’s right hand and responsible for the Fourth Division Security Bureau, is one of the most prominent “contractors” carrying out profitable enterprises connected to the war economy, such as clearing rubble, resorting and selling the materials, and securing transport lines and controlling drug supply networks.

After freezing him and limiting his powers, Russians began to investigate Bilal through the Republican Palace Security Bureau in matters related to producing and trafficking drugs, in what is believed to be part of the Russian-Iranian dispute. The Fourth Division is generally considered to be more inclined toward the Iranians, and is responsible for crimes of sectarian cleansing against the opposition across Syria, and includes sectarian Shia fighting groups among its ranks.

The issue does not stop there. The businessman Naeem al-Jarah, one of the financial faces of Assad’s investments, has also been subjected to pressure from the Russians through the Republican Palace Security Bureau. Bilal’s issue is connected to Jarah through a factory in the al-Mohamidiyeh area on the outskirts of eastern Ghouta that manufactures drugs.

The Russian investigations proved that the Fourth Division Security Bureau’s involvement in transporting the primary materials for the manufacturing of drugs to the factory, which is owned by Jarah, by way of Damascus International Airport.

Major General Maher al-Assad, according to Al-Modon’s sources, has asked the Russians to withdraw all the Fourth Division forces previously sent to the Hama countryside to replace the Fifth Corps and Tiger Forces, after the latter stumbled in their battle against the opposition. Assad withdrew his previous approval for the Fourth Division forces to assist regime forces in this fighting, which explains the major confusion among the regime forces on this front.
 

sooda

Veteran Member
Why do Russians have authority in Syria?

Because they saved Assad's butt. Maher is known to be a ruthless, vicious man.

Did you see the Iranian supertanker with 2 million barrels of crude being seized off Gibraltar? It was headed for Syria after a 14,000 mile trip. South out of the Persian Gulf, around KSA and around Africa..

That is some high dollar crude oil.
 

sooda

Veteran Member
Russia Curbs Maher al-Assad's Influence - The Syrian Observer
Russia Curbs Maher al-Assad's Influence - The Syrian Observermaher-al-assads-influence.html
Maher al-Assad is finding himself in direct confrontation with Russian efforts that aim to clip his wings militarily. So far, it seems that they have succeeded in curbing …

Excerpt:

Maher al-Assad is finding himself in direct confrontation with Russian efforts that aim to clip his wings militarily. So far, it seems that they have succeeded in curbing his influence, which had been continuously growing before.

What is happening to Maher cannot be separated from Russian-Iranian competition, which reflects the Assad regime’s fragility.

Russia is trying to diminish Maher’s influence, which is tied to his close relations with Iran. The report also presents an aspect of the conflicts occurring inside the Assad family, the roots of which extend back four decades, and which could push Maher to pursue similar behaviors with his brother, as those that were taken by Rifaat al-Assad with Hafez.

Russian forces began their moves against Maher’s influence in a significant way in the last quarter of 2018, carrying out a widescale operation to purge regime military institutions of members loyal to Iran led by Maher al-Assad.

Since the removal of former Defense Minister General Fahd Jassem al-Freij and his replacement with General Ali Ayyoub, Russian forces have gone on to limit the position of Chief of Staff to 15 months, a precedent unknown in the Syrian military institution since its establishment in 1946.

Moscow has tried to implement a comprehensive plan to restructure the military institution and to bolster the networks of officers loyal to it.

The operation to restructure the armed forces has coincided with the Russian command adopting a plan that aims to weaken Iranian influence by dismantling the allied forces and militias loyal to Tehran. The Air Force Intelligence Directorate has ended the contracts of about 6,500 members of a militia loyal to it, and dissolved the “Baath Commandos” and “National Defense” militias in Barzeh and Qudisiyeh, as well as the “Qalamoun Shield”.

It has arrested National Defense militia members in Deir ez-Zor. It also arrested a large number of other militia members, according to the report.

These measures have resulted in tensions in the relations between a network of pro-Moscow regime officers on one side and a network of pro-Iran officers on the other. The year 2018 saw an unprecedented series of assassinations and purges, which affected a number of field commanders in the army.

The period between October and December 2018 was the bloodiest in the Republican Palace. A group of officers accused of conspiring in secret against Bashar al-Assad were purged, and this operation affected most of those working in the palace’s Information Office, led by Colonel Mazen Ghadoun, who was executed.

More than ten officers of varying ranks were arrested from the office, and some of them were placed under house arrest, while others were put at the disposal of the Chief of Staff.

The conflict and clash of interests moved to a new stage during the first quarter of 2019 as the pace of the Russian anti-corruption campaign escalated, affecting the small circle around Maher al-Assad. This resulted in direct military confrontations that erupted in mid-January between members of the 8th Division and the 5th Corps on one side and the 4th Division under Maher al-Assad on the other.

The Air Force Intelligence and Military Security also arrested officers of the 4th Division and the Republican Guard against the backdrop of accusations linked to nepotism and corruption. The State Security agency was forced to implement Russian commands of withdrawing from cities and towns in Daraa.

To regain some of the influence he lost in the Air Force, Maher al-Assad tried in February to coordinate with Iranian forces to establish new missile production lines, whereby he was instructed to build storehouses and special bases to produce and develop new types of missiles and missile bases which had been destroyed by recent Israeli bombardment.

According to informed sources, the aim of establishing these bases was to supply the 4th Division in particular, as well as the Hezbollah militia with new missiles of the Fateh-110 type and the Golan-1000, whose shells are up to 450kg.

Russian forces did not delay in delivering a fierce blow to Maher’s plans, appointing one of the most prominent commanders in the Tiger Forces to a command position in the 4th Division in an unprecedented Russian challenge to Maher al-Assad and his circle of his influence.

continued
 

Ellen Brown

Well-Known Member
Because they saved Assad's butt. Maher is known to be a ruthless, vicious man.

Did you see the Iranian supertanker with 2 million barrels of crude being seized off Gibraltar? It was headed for Syria after a 14,000 mile trip. South out of the Persian Gulf, around KSA and around Africa..

That is some high dollar crude oil.

Based only on my opinion and limited knowledge, It seems that meddling by the west in Iran before wwII has created most of the hostility.
 
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