Sex crazed Bashar al-Assad had lover arrange wives of his officers, spent hours playing Candy Crush

Syria's former president, Bashar al-Assad, was obsessed with sex, and one of his lovers helped get women for her, including wives of his own officials. According to a report by The Atlantic, instead of trying to save his regime, Assad spent his time on sex and smartphone games. He also made terrible decisions, replacing experienced powerbrokers with younger people who did not match the former's level of competence. Luna al-Shibl was a former Al Jazeera journalist who later became Assad's confidante and his lover, the outlet quoted the sources as saying. Shibl arranged women for Assad, which included the wives of senior Syrian officers. However, when Assad's control started to wane, Shibl is believed to have changed her allegiance and started sharing confidential information with Russia. In July 2024, she died under mysterious circumstances. Police found her dead in her BMW on a highway outside Damascus, with state media claiming that she was killed in a car accident.

Assad played videos games on his phone

However, some believe that Assad himself ordered her killing. Even though Shibl was found with her skull completely smashed, the car barely had any damage. There were also reports that Iran got her killed after she leaked some data to Israel. But the Assad theory was widely believed by those around them. Assad also didn't seem to care about the military and political crises in Syria in 2024. Instead, he spent his time on his phone, playing games like Candy Crush, his former courtiers and officers say. One former Hezbollah operative said he spent hours on his phone and was not interested in tackling the grave problem at hand.

Assad and his silence on Israel-Hamas war

After the October 2024 attack on Israel, Assad chose to remain silent. Meanwhile, Israel launched strikes across Syria and Lebanon, killing leaders like Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Assad's remaining mum on the situation fuelled suspicion that he was sharing secrets with Israel. When rebels advanced towards Aleppo on November 27, Assad was not in Russia. His commanders were left to fight them alone as he did not intervene. When Russia refused to fight the war, Assad reached Damascus and assured aides that they would win against the rebels. An official statement was released stating that he was at the palace carrying out his "constitutional duties". However, insiders say that it was a lie and Assad had already fled on a Russian jet. The new Syrian government issued an arrest warrant against Assad, and he remains missing.