Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad seen here in a November 11, 2023, photo, has fled to Russia, ending his 24-year-rule of Syria. File Photo by via Saudi Press Agency/UPI | License Photo
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was ousted over the weekend by jihadist-led rebels and has fled to Russia, ending his family’s five-decade rule of the Middle Eastern country.
Bashar al-Assad led the Syria with an iron fist and quelled domestic dissent while resisting international isolation and condemnation. He survived a nearly 15-year civil war, but was ultimately undone by a fast-moving insurgency led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, less than two weeks after it started its march on Damascus. Advertisement
While his future and that of his country are uncertain, his past and rise to dictatorship was unexpected.
He was an eye doctor in London when a family tragedy put him on the path to leadership.
His father, Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria following a bloodless army-backed coup in 1970, was grooming Bashar al-Assad’s eldest brother, Bassel Assad, to be the next president.
A major in the Syrian army a graduate from both Damascus University and the country military staff college, Bassel Assad was being well-positioned to take over.
However, the 31-year-old died in a car accident in January of 1994. Shortly afterward, Bashar al-Assad was recalled from Britain and chosen to be the next president. Advertisement
His father, Hafez al-Assad, ran Syria like his son would, but brought stability to a country that had lacked it since gaining independence following World War II.
When Hafez al-Assad died of a heart attack at the age of 69 in June 2000, Bashar al-Assad was elected president the next month after the Constitution was amended to reduce the minimum age for the presidency from 40 to 34 — the same age as Bashar al-Assad at the time.
Western hopes of improving strained relations with Syria under the leadership of a London-educated doctor quickly soured after Bashar al-Assad took power. He continued Syria’s ties with militant groups, including Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah, CNN reported.
In 2011, when he cracked down on pro-democracy protests, the Western world turned completely against Bashar al-Assad.
The crackdown ignited the civil war, during which Bashar al-Assad was repeatedly accused of using chemical weapons upon his own people.
The United States and other democratic nations imposed sanctions on his regime, and became involved in the war through Operation Inherent Resolve, which sought to eliminate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Despite the protracted civil war, Bashar al-Assad was able to hang on to power for as long as he did due to support from both Iran and Russia. Advertisement
According to the United Nations, the Syrian civil war has killed at least 350,000 people, with more than 14 million others displaced.
Following his ouster, world leaders celebrated.
“At long last, the Assad regime has fallen,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
While acknowledging that Syria’s future is uncertain, he called the present moment a “historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their country.”
