Has Bashar Al-Assad disappeared?

He is quoted daily in the national press, and his officials and mouthpieces are all over the place, telling the usual lies and making the usual assurances, but where is really?

He’s being referred to in the national newspapers on the daily basis, as has always been the case. He is reported to be meeting various delegations from all over the country, is often quoted making references to current events in the country, as he makes excuses for the violence perpetrated by his security officers. Still, no recent videos or images of him are available. Even footage from his appearance last Friday to put flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in commemoration of Martyr’s Day was shown to date back to 2010. So, where in the world is Bashar Al-Assad?

Some claim that he is the victim of a palace coup orchestrated by his brother Maher in cooperation with other army generals and security chiefs, and that Bashar is currently either under house arrest, dead, or in Tehran.

So, where in the world is Bashar Al-Assad? He is where he wants to be: running the show and hanging for dear life, with other members of the family (for this a family affair, as Rami Makhlouf clearly put it), to an ever shrinking straw. Now whether his First Lady is with him or in London, as some reports claim, is important only as an indication as to the Assads’ own sense of how serious the crisis is. But then we need look no farther the statements of Rami Makhlouf to know how troubled the Assads are at this stage: the family-based nature of decision-making has been laid bare for all to see, and the nature of their gambit “deal with us or make trouble for everybody” has been clearly enunciated. First, it was Bashar himself, now it is Rami, and in-between, the revelations about Maher and his involvement in Seydnaya Massacre, the entire family has by now gone full monty. There are no more fig leafs, and no more excuses. 

Indict the bastards!