(CNN) -- He's the strongman behind the strongman: Maher al-Assad. The younger brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Maher al-Assad is described by analysts as someone even more ruthless than Bashar. "Maher is the kneecapper. He is in charge of keeping the regime in power," said Joshua Landis of the University of Oklahoma. It's a role he seemingly relishes. One analyst who has been in meetings with Maher described him as wearing a dark suit, sunglasses and slicked-back hair: a "Mafia wanna-be." "This fellow thinks of himself as the family enforcer," said Ted Kattouf, a former U.S. ambassador to Syria.
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Maher al-Assad is younger brother of the Syrian president
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He is in charge of two elite military units and also leads a sectarian militia
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"Maher has been at the forefront of the most brutal fighting," analyst says
While Bashar seeks to portray a positive image with the Syrian public, "everyone sees (Maher) as one of the major powers behind the throne who can do the dirty work," @placeholder said