Khaberni - Social media circulated a picture claiming it was Dima Shawkat, daughter of Assef Shawkat the husband of Bashar al-Assad's sister, during her participation in a meeting inside the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in Syria.
The circulated picture caused significant engagement on social media, with one activist writing: "Dima Shawkat, daughter of Assef Shawkat and Bushra al-Assad... from the heart of a meeting in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in Damascus, as she lectures on the humanitarian crisis in the eastern region as a project manager at the World Food Programme WFP." However, official Syrian sources did not comment on this news.
According to information, Dima Shawkat attended the meeting in her capacity as a program director within the United Nations' World Food Programme WFP.
However, it is evident from the precision of the captured image that it is old, while the names of the participants and the timing of the event remain unknown.
Syrian news sites reported that Dima is Assef Shawkat's daughter from his first wife, not from his marriage to Bushra al-Assad.
An activist wrote: "She is the daughter of Salam, not Bushra," referring to his first wife.
Another wrote: "We kick them out the door and they come back through the window."
Another said: "We must be wary of elements connected in one way or another to the former regime; these are often likely to be recruited by states to infiltrate critical aspects of the Syrian state with long-term projects until it becomes very difficult to dislodge them because they may then form a self-protecting cycle of authoritarianism within the state entity."
It is noted that Assef Shawkat was a prominent Syrian officer who held high security positions in Syria and was considered one of the most influential figures in the former Syrian regime.
Assef Shawkat was born in 1950 in Tartus and was the son-in-law of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, having married his daughter Bushra al-Assad, sister of Bashar al-Assad.
Shawkat rose through the ranks of the Syrian security apparatus, headed the Military Intelligence Directorate, then appointed deputy to the Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces. He was viewed as one of the architects of security policies in the country, particularly during the early years of the Syrian crisis.
He was known for his extensive influence and intricate relationships within the military and security establishment, and his name was linked to a number of sensitive cases both domestically and internationally.
Assef Shawkat was killed in July 2012 in an explosion that targeted the National Security building in Damascus.
