Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara has removed his elder brother Maher from a sensitive state position, official media reported, while retaining other close associates in senior roles.
Syria remains in a stabilisation phase a year and a half after the ousting of Bashar Al Assad's regime, following a prolonged civil war and as the country is wracked by low living standards and public discontent.
Millions displaced during the 2011–2024 conflict are still living in camps, with Syria's reconstruction largely stalled. Mr Al Shara, whose Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) forces captured Damascus in December 2024 after a lightning sweep from the north, has promised a transition to pluralism within five years.
The appointment in April last year of Maher Al Shara as Secretary General of the Presidency, a position akin to chief of staff, had drawn criticism that it mirrored the nepotism of the previous Assad era, when Maher Al Assad was seen widely as the second most powerful figure in the country.
Late on Sunday, the official news agency Sana said Mr Al Shara had appointed Abdulrahman Al Ama as Syria's new Secretary General, without referring to Maher Al Shara. Mr Al Ama previously served in an administration set up in Idlib, the north-western province near the Turkish border in which the now-disbanded HTS was once based.
Sana also said new information and agriculture ministers have been appointed, along with several provincial governors.
A diplomat working on Syria said that amid frustration over slow economic recovery and the spread of patronage networks, it was necessary for Mr Al Shara to remove his brother “from the front window”. They added: “He will remain influential in the shadows.”
Loyalist media reported that another brother, Hazem Al Shara, had been removed from a shadowy body responsible for confiscating assets from former regime figures, though there was no official confirmation or indication of a replacement.
According to former HTS operatives now in government, the de facto power structure is divided into three tiers, based on organisational principles developed during the group’s rise in Idlib.
The top echelon, known as “nawat al salbat” or hard nucleus, comprises a small group with decision-making authority, including the President, Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani and Interior Minister Anas Khattab, also known as Abu Ahmad Al Hudud, a reference to his previous militant role near the Syria-Iraq border.
The middle bracket, “mutaniffithoun” or influence holders, includes perhaps hundreds of figures with significant access and discretionary powers, among them Maher and Hazem Al Shara, and other former Idlib administrators.
The third cohort, “mufawadoun”, numbers in the thousands and includes officials delegated authority to carry out specific tasks, such as running ministries or departments requiring technical expertise.
Mr Al Shara’s rise has brought a major geopolitical shift, pulling Syria out of the Iranian and Russian orbit, and restoring the US as a key actor in the Levant. His administration has been co-operating with Washington on counter-terrorism in exchange for steps towards re-establishing ties, with most US sanctions lifted by the end of last year.
However, the Syrian pound is trading at about 13,000 to the US dollar, slightly weaker than in the final year of Al Assad rule, as sporadic violence continues to plague parts of the country. While electricity and some services have improved and Gulf states have pledged billions in investment, only a limited number of projects are under way.
