Assef Shawkat

Assef Shawkat
آصِفُ شَوْكَتْ
Deputy Minister of Defense
In office September 2011 – 18 July 2012
President	Bashar al-Assad
Minister	Dawoud Rajiha
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces
In office 2009–2011
Head of Military Intelligence Directorate
In office 2005–2009
Preceded by	Hassan Khalil
Succeeded by	Abdel-Fatah Qudsiyeh
Personal details
Born	(1950-01-15)15 January 1950 Al-Madehleh, Tartus, First Syrian Republic
Died	18 July 2012(2012-07-18) (aged 62) Damascus, Syria
Political party	Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
Spouse	Bushra al-Assad ​ ​ (m. 1995⁠–⁠2012)​
Relations	Hafez al-Assad (father-in-law) Bassel (brother-in-law) Bashar (brother-in-law) Majd (brother-in-law) Maher (brother-in-law)
Military service
Allegiance	Syria
Years of service	1970s–2012
Rank	Lieutenant general
Battles/wars	Yom Kippur War Lebanese Civil War Syrian intervention in the Lebanese Civil War Islamist uprising in Syria 1982 Lebanon War Syrian Civil War

Assef Shawkat (Arabic: آصِفُ شَوْكَتْ, romanized: ʾĀṣif Šawkat‎; 15 January 1950 – 18 July 2012) was a Syrian military officer who was the Deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012.

He was the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, having married his older sister Bushra.

He and three other top Syrian government officials were killed on 18 July 2012 in Damascus during a deadly bomb attack allegedly organized by the Assad regime .^[1] Shawkat was a key suspect in a terrorist attack in Beirut that killed Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 14 February 2005. US Department of Treasury sanctioned Shawkat in 2006 for orchestrating the assassination, describing him as "a key architect" of Syrian occupation of Lebanon.^[2][3]