In 2001 , Assad condemned the September 11 attacks . In 2003 , Assad revealed in an interview with a Kuwaiti newspaper that he doubted the organization of al-Qaeda even existed . He was quoted as saying , " Is there really an entity called al-Qaeda ? Was it in Afghanistan ? Does it exist now ? " He went on further to remark about Osama bin Laden , commenting : " he can not talk on the phone or use the Internet , but he can direct communications to the four corners of the world ? This is illogical . " Assad 's relationship with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has been subject to much attention . In 2014 , journalist and terrorism expert Peter R. Neumann maintained , citing Syrian records captured by the U.S. military in the Iraqi border town of Sinjar and leaked State Department cables , that " in the years that preceded the uprising , Assad and his intelligence services took the view that jihad could be nurtured and manipulated to serve the Syrian government 's aims " . Other leaked cables contained remarks by US general David Petraeus which stated that " Bashar al-Asad was well aware that his brother-in-law ' Asif Shawqat , Director of Syrian Military Intelligence , had detailed knowledge of the activities of AQI facilitator Abu Ghadiya , who was using Syrian territory to bring foreign fighters and suicide bombers into Iraq " , with later cables adding that Petraeus thought that " in time , these fighters will turn on their Syrian hosts and begin conducting attacks against Bashar al-Assad 's regime itself "
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Bashar al-Assad