Fatal car crash

Luna Shebel, communications adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, died on Friday "after a painful road accident," the state-run Syrian news agency SANA reported, citing a statement from the president's office.

Two days ago it was reported that she was in intensive care after suffering "serious injuries."

"In recent years, she has been director of the political and media office at the presidency and then advisor," added the brief statement from the president's office, which offers its condolences to "her family and loved ones."

According to the president office's previous statement, Shebel's car had "deviated" from a road leading to Damascus on Tuesday afternoon. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a U.K.-based NGO, reported that her vehicle was hit by another car, causing her to lose control which led to the accident. Syrian regime forces arrested the driver of the other vehicle and took him to a security center for questioning, according to SOHR.

Close ties to the regime

Known for her crucial role in regional reconciliations and her influential position in the presidential palace, Shebel was a prominent figure in the Syrian political sphere, according to the Syrian Obervor. In 2020, she was appointed “special advisor” to President Assad in addition to her position as head of the media and policy office at the palace.

A Syrian government document, which L'Orient-Le Jour was able to consult, revealed that Shebel's husband, Mohammad Saati, a retired general and head of the pro-government Student Federation, was dismissed from his post by Syrian Education Minister Bassam Ibrahim on June 23. 

"Luna Shebel had a meteoric rise from journalism at the Qatari pan-Arab channel al-Jazeera to the position of spokesperson for Bashar al-Assad, but she also came into direct conflict with his wife," the Syrian Observer wrote in 2019.

Luna divorced her ex-husband, Lebanese journalist Sami Kleib, in 2014 after four years of marriage. They met while working at al-Jazeera.