Berri, Franjieh, Other Officials to Syria to Offer Condolences over Majd”s Death
Speaker Nabih Berri, Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh as well as other Lebanese political leaders will visit Damascus soon to offer condolences to Syrian President Bashar Assad over the death of his younger brother, Majd.
The report, carried by An Nahar daily on Sunday, said a delegation from Michel Aoun”s Free Patriotic Movement will also visit Damascus on Monday.
It was not confirmed whether Aoun would personally take part.
Majd al-Assad, Bashar Assad”s younger brother, died Saturday, the official SANA news agency said.
It said Majd died in Damascus after a long illness. It did not give further details.
Born in 1966 and trained as an electrical engineer, Majd never displayed any political ambition.
His death leaves the Syrian president with just one brother and a sister, after his older brother Bassel, who was being groomed for the presidency, was killed in a car accident in 1994.
Bashar has ruled Syria since the death of his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000.
His remaining brother Maher is a colonel in the presidential guard, while his sister Bushra, the oldest sibling, is married to Gen. Assef Shawkat, a former head of military intelligence who was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Syrian army in July.