The Honored Number (22) Colonel Riad Al-Asaad
Riad Musa Al-Asaad was born in 1961 in Jabal al-Zawiya (rural Idlib province), Syria.
At the age of 19, he joined the Syrian Air Force.
He worked as an engineer and rose through the ranks in the Air Force until he reached the rank of Colonel in the 22nd Division and the 14th Brigade.
He was summoned by the Air Force Intelligence Branch in Aleppo following a demonstration in his city and was forced to confess to the existence of armed gangs among the city’s residents.
This incident was the direct cause for his defection on July 4, 2011.
In July, he founded the Free Syrian Army and was declared its commander a few days later.
He traveled to Turkey, where he continued to lead Free Syrian Army operations and began communicating with the media, informing them about FSA operations inside Syria.
Riad expressed his support for and endorsement of the Syrian National Council upon its launch.
In September 2012, Riad Al-Asaad moved to opposition-controlled Syrian territories to manage FSA operations from there.
On Monday, March 25, 2013, he was injured in Al-Mayadin city in Deir ez-Zor by a roadside bomb explosion, which resulted in the amputation of his leg.
He reappeared in the public scene during the announcement of the establishment of the so-called “Syrian Salvation Government” in opposition-held areas on October 2, 2017.
He held the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Military Affairs on November 2, 2017, under the leadership of Mohammad Sheikh.
He remained in his position until August 15, 2018, when he was excluded from the new government.
He faced widespread criticism for his participation in the Salvation Government affiliated with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, among the critics was the Syrian Future Movement, but he stated that his stance was merely an attempt to save Idlib from destruction.
He currently lives in a camp on Turkish soil.
In the Syrian Future Movement, in recognition of his military and revolutionary history, his support for his people in their revolution against oppression and tyranny, and as an acknowledgment of the great figures of Syria, we present the Syrian Future Movement Shield this week to the founder of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad Al-Asaad, a symbolic Syrian shield that embodies our vision and national approach.
