Syrian presidential adviser's funeral held in Damascus

Luna Al Shibl, a key figure in the government's media operations, died of injuries from a car crash

The funeral of Luna Al Shibl in Damascus. The National

A key official in the Assad government was buried in the Dahdah cemetery in central Damascus on Saturday after dying from injuries suffered in a car crash.

Luna Al Shibl, 48, special adviser to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, was an influential figure in the country's political arena, often accompanying the president on foreign visits and directing the country's media narratives.

Mourners gathered in a private, low-key ceremony attended by her husband Ammar Saati, a former government official, children and other relatives.

Ms Al Shibl had been in intensive care at Al Shami hospital after sustaining “severe injuries” in a car crash near Damascus, on Tuesday, state news agency Sana reported.

The Syrian Presidency announced her death, saying in a statement: “Al Shibl succumbed to her injuries after the car she was in veered off the road and was subjected to several collisions, leaving the adviser with fatal injuries.”

The release then expressed condolences to her family, and said she had been “in recent years, director of the political and media office at the presidency and then adviser”.

Ms Al Shibl, originally from the Syrian Druze-majority province of Sweida, was a presenter for Al Jazeera when the Qatari media outlet began to cover the Arab Uprising in Syria. She left and returned to Damascus.

The adviser was a central proponent of the government's media policy during the last decade, often lauded as one of the key architects of the state’s defence mechanism on the global airwaves.

In September last year, she travelled with Mr Assad on his first state visit to China since 2004.

Ms Al Shibl first found fame on the world stage as a government official at the 2015 Geneva conference, where she was seen sitting, smiling behind Syria's foreign minister at the time, Walid Al Mouallem.

Her presence in Geneva was seen as a boost for Damascus, adding a dynamic and sharp element to the country’s diplomatic representation.

One government employee who had worked with Ms Al Shibl said: “She was a driving force behind the government's media strategies over the last decade and one of the more influential figures who helped the Assad government secure victory in the harder years of the war. She was smart and popular.”

Another who had worked directly for her told The National: “Shibl was a defining pioneer of the government’s media, running the day-to-day management of the state media apparatus, and everything from Assad’s appearances to the election.”