She knew too much, too soon, and climbed too fast. Her end was swift, shrouded, and speaks volumes about the system that made her.
The Cradle's Syria Correspondent
Before her name echoed through Syria’s power corridors, Luna al-Shibl had already stepped into roles that blurred journalism, politics, and power. Born into a Druze family in Damascus, she started her career on Syrian state television before joining Al Jazeera in 2003.
There, she covered major regional events – from the 2006 Lebanon War to Saddam Hussein’s trial and execution – and married her Lebanese colleague Sami Kleib in 2008. She briefly held Lebanese citizenship before their eventual separation.
Her name truly began to resonate across Syria in 2011, not as a bureaucrat or propagandist, but as a defector of a different sort. As the Syrian war erupted and Al Jazeera’s coverage of the conflict drew fierce scrutiny from Damascus, Shibl made her move. She left the Qatari network and accused it – on air – of waging an orchestrated disinformation campaign against the Syrian government.
Within days, she reappeared in Damascus, seated across from a pro-government anchor on Al-Dunya TV, laying out a forceful narrative that described the war not as an uprising, but as a foreign-backed conspiracy.
It was this televised defense of the state that caught the eye of then-president Bashar al-Assad himself. Sources with knowledge of the meeting inform The Cradle that the president summoned her soon after and inducted her into the palace media team.
The group at the time included other known figures like Hadeel al-Ali and Sheherazad al-Jaafari, but Shibl quickly out-ranked them. Within months, she became the de facto voice of the palace, and her rivals were quietly pushed aside.
Power, proximity, and the path to influence
Shibl’s influence would swell dramatically in the run-up to the 2014 presidential election. This was when she emerged as the main architect of the “Sawa” (“Together”) campaign – the media blitz designed to secure Assad's re-election.
According to testimonies obtained by The Cradle, she coordinated across a sprawling network that included student unions and youth groups, most notably the Syrian Students' Union led by Ammar Saati, a figure close to Bashar's brother, Maher al-Assad, who commanded the Syrian Arab Army's elite 4th Armoured Division.
One attendee of the palace-union meetings describes the first encounter between Shibl and Saati as unremarkable. But by the next day, she appeared in high-end attire and adopted a markedly different tone with Saati. The relationship developed quickly, culminating in a marriage that would further consolidate her power.
Now part of the Assad family’s inner orbit, Shibl ascended further. She was appointed media advisor to the president, with a portfolio that stretched beyond press statements. Her sway within Syrian media institutions at the General Authority for Radio and Television soon surpassed even the formal authority of the Information Ministry.
On 22 April 2017, Shibl was appointed to the Central Committee of the Arab Socialist Baath Party; yet, two months before her death, in May 2024, President Bashar al-Assad dismissed her and her husband from the party’s Central Committee.
In 2020, Assad formalized this clout, naming her a special advisor to the presidency. Her influence moved beyond the narrative machinery. Officials who worked within the palace structure disclose to The Cradle that her authority extended into the heart of decision-making.
She could interfere in, amend, or even reverse ministerial decrees. One illustrative episode involved the then-information minister Ramiz Tarjaman, who attempted to dismiss former news director Imad Sarah from the Syrian state broadcaster.
Shibl stepped in, blocked the move, and months later, Sarah replaced Tarjaman as minister of information. Their bond went back years – Sarah was the news director who had given her that pivotal Al-Dunya interview in 2011. Loyalty, in this case, was rewarded with a cabinet seat.
But Shibl’s meteoric rise also drew enemies. She clashed with key figures inside the system: former religious affairs minister Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed, former administrative development minister Salam Safaf, and the then-head of the Students' Union, Darine Suleiman.
Shibl’s elevation is also said to have caused friction not only with Bouthaina Shaaban – who held a similarly senior advisory position – but also with the First Lady Asma al-Assad. The tension reportedly sharpened amid persistent rumours of a personal relationship between Shibl and the president, amplified by Syrian social media users referring to her as the country's “Second Lady.”
These rivalries, however, were balanced by strong alliances with Maher al-Assad and the then-head of the National Security Bureau, Ali Mamlouk. For a time, this network shielded her – until it no longer did.
Crash, cover-up, and controlled silence
On 2 July 2024, Shibl was admitted to Al-Shami Hospital in Damascus after a reported car crash on the road to Al-Dimas. Four days later, her death was announced. There was no state funeral, no televised eulogies, no military honors. Her burial was a muted affair, attended by her husband and a handful of officials, including former presidential affairs secretary Mansour Azzam.
Sources inform The Cradle that a former Baath Party official who is a friend of Saati recounted being at his house weeks before Shibl’s death when she stormed downstairs mid-call, loudly declaring:
“General, this is Luna al-Shibl. When I tell you to release him, you release him … My brother is sleeping at home tonight. And if you don’t know who Luna is, I’ll remind you,” referring to her brother, officer Mulham al-Shibl, after his arrest.
The Cradle also reviewed a voice message she sent via Telegram on 1 July 2024 – just one day before the crash – at 1:23 pm, to a close palace associate. The recording captures her laughing and joking, undermining theories that she was arrested, tortured, or killed before the accident as part of a cover-up.
An intelligence officer familiar with the case confirms that Shibl had been summoned repeatedly by Air Force Intelligence and State Security in the two months leading up to the crash, though she was never formally detained. Interrogations were ongoing prior to her death, but he declines to disclose their content.
Separately, a friend of the doctor overseeing her treatment at the hospital reveals to The Cradle that Shibl had arrived alive. That evening, the hospital received an instruction from the palace: her life was to be ended “quietly.” The source adds that she suffered a severe blow to the back of the head – unlikely to have resulted from the accident.
Why was she killed?
Theories over Shibl’s death swirl in Damascus. Three dominant explanations emerge, based on The Cradle’s findings.
One version alleges that Shibl, or her brother, had leaked sensitive information about Iranian and Hezbollah officials to Israeli intelligence, enabling targeted assassinations.
A second theory claims Assad discovered she had compiled compromising files and recordings about him, intended as leverage.
A third hypothesis links her death to palace intrigue, suggesting Asma may have orchestrated her removal out of rivalry.
However, sources close to the investigation say the third scenario is less likely. The interrogations of Shibl and her brother suggest a deeper security breach rather than a personal feud. Her killing, they argue, was not about emotions. It was about control.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), based in the United Kingdom, Shibl’s role had diminished during the month preceding her death, apparently as a result of Iran’s displeasure over allegations that she had passed sensitive information about meetings between Syrian and Iranian officials to their Russian counterparts.
The Observatory also reported that Syrian intelligence had detained her brother on charges related to “cooperating with Israel and providing information about a meeting of leaders of the Axis of Resistance at the Iranian embassy in Damascus.”
More than a mere spokesperson, Shibl operated at the heart of the government’s messaging apparatus, steered its internal conflicts, and navigated the infighting of its power centers. Her ascent was bound to the tightening grip of Syria’s information state. Her elimination reflects the same logic of absolute control and swift disposal of those who know too much.
Whether it was a car crash, a blunt trauma, or a kill order cloaked in silence, one truth cuts through: Shibl was eliminated. The only question is whether she crossed a red line or simply knew too much to live.
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