ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry on Monday denied that Maher al-Assad, the brother of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is in the country.
“The news on social media about the presence of Maher al-Assad, the brother of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, inside Iraqi territory is false,” Miqdad Miri, the spokesperson for the Iraqi interior ministry told state media.
Several outlets on Monday reported that Maher al-Assad fled Syria and now resides in Iraq, particularly in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province, claiming that he is hosted by Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani.
Kurdistan Region authorities have not commented on the matter.
On Saturday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which govern northeast Syria (Rojava), denied rumors of allowing Maher al-Assad’s passage through its territory into Iraq. The SDF called the claim “completely false and comes in the context of incitement against our forces and people in northern and eastern Syria.”
The SDF enjoys good relations with the PUK.
The Assad family fled Syria after a lightning rebel offensive spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) brought down the Syrian regime, ending over 50 years of Baathist rule.
Following the fall of Damascus, Russian forces evacuated Assad, and his family from Syria and granted them asylum in Moscow.
In his first message after the collapse of the regime, Assad said on Monday that his departure from the country was not planned and that Russia had arranged his evacuation to Moscow, from a military base in Latakia, where he was overseeing the operations.
Assad said in his message that the country has fallen “in the hands of terrorists.”