Riad al-Asaad

Who is Riad al-Asaad?

Riad Mousa al-Asaad was a commander of the Free Syrian Army. He was a former Colonel in the Syrian Air Force who defected in July 2011.

Al-Asaad had announced his defection on 4 July 2011, while he established the Free Syrian Army on 29 July 2011. He went to the Turkish Hatay Province, where he was under patronage of the Turkish Army.

After UN military observers entered Syria, al-Asaad announced a ceasefire for all forces, committed to the Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria. However, after a few days he has reannounced continuation of attacks led by rebels because the government of Bashar al-Assad, according to him, did not make peace as promised. On 31 May 2012, al-Asaad urged Kofi Annan to scrap his peace plan which he claims failed. Moreover, al-Asaad opposes any exile solution for Assad, and seeks for fighting until al-Assad's regime is overthrown.

In an interview with the Voice of Russia made in early August 2012, al-Asaad claimed that the Syrian government attempted to assassinate him several times and for that reason he is being guarded by the Turkish intelligence. Colonel Kasim Saaduddin, a member of the FSA stated that al-Asaad does not have control over the Free Syrian Army, which al-Asaad himself denied in the interview.