Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa announced a Saturday reshuffle of several senior government roles and removed his brother from a key post that had drawn accusations of nepotism. The changes were reported by the state news agency SANA as al-Sharaa’s administration continued efforts to consolidate control in a country still divided after a brutal civil war.
Al-Sharaa’s brother, Maher al-Sharaa, had previously served as secretary-general to the presidency in Damascus, a role that his appointment last year prompted comparisons to practices under Bashar Assad and his father, Hafez Assad. AP reported that Maher al-Sharaa’s removal came as al-Sharaa led an insurgent offensive that ousted Bashar Assad in December 2024 after nearly 14 years of civil war.
During Bashar Assad’s rule, AP said, the younger Assad also placed family members—including his wife and brother—in influential positions. AP described Maher Assad as commander of the Syrian military’s 4th Armored Division, a unit opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, and it said Bashar Assad’s wife, Asma Assad, headed the Syrian Trust for Development.
In the Saturday decree, SANA reported that al-Sharaa appointed Abdul Rahman Badreddine al-Aama—previously governor of Homs—as Maher al-Sharaa’s replacement. It was not immediately clear to AP what position, if any, Maher al-Sharaa would hold going forward; AP reported that he is a physician and had also previously served as Syria’s interim health minister.
Beyond the personnel change within the presidency, the interim leader also appointed new governors for Homs, Latakia, Deir el-Zour and Quneitra provinces. AP also reported that al-Sharaa named a new information minister, Khaled Zaarour, an academic who had most recently been the dean of the faculty of media at Damascus University, replacing Hamza Mustafa, who AP said had been head of the private Syria TV network before becoming information minister.