Assad Kin Reported Shot in Family Feud

A likely power struggle within Hafez Assad’s family led to the shooting of the Syrian president’s son-in-law by Assad’s son, the French daily Liberation has reported. Assef Chawkat, head of army intelligence and husband of Assad’s only daughter, was hospitalized in Paris in early November, the paper reported Monday. It said he had since returned home. Chawkat was shot in the stomach by Maher Assad in the presidential palace in Damascus, the Syrian capital, the report said, adding that the shooting appeared to be part of a power struggle between Maher Assad and Chawkat, who advises the president’s eldest surviving son, Bashir.