Who are Bashar and Asma Assad? All about the Syrian dictator and his wife.
Syrian President Bashar Assad fled to Russia over the weekend, ending a nearly 14-year struggle to maintain power in his country amid a civil war that turned into a battlefield for international and regional powers.
But the Assad people came to know through the news of war in Syria was not who some expected when he came to power.Rise to Power
Assad’s father, Hafez Assad, had been cultivating Bashar’s oldest brother Basil as his successor. In 1994, Basil was killed in a car crash in Damascus. Bashar was then brought home from his ophthalmology practice in London and put through military training, where he was elevated to the rank of colonel to give him the credentials to one day rule Syria.
Hafez ruled Syria for nearly 30 years, during which he established a Soviet-style centralized economy. He also formed an alliance with the Shiite clerical leadership in Iran, sealed Syrian domination over Lebanon and set up a network of Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups.
When Hafez died in 2000, the country’s parliament lowered the age requirement to become president from 40 to 34, and through a nationwide referendum, Bashar became president, having been the only candidate.
Bashar initially seemed the opposite of his father. When Bashar came to power, he spoke with a slight lisp, was tall, lanky, quiet and had a gentle demeanor. His only official position previous to becoming president was the head of the Syrian Computer Society, so people believed he was a geeky tech-savvy fan of computers with a gentle demeanor.
Bashar also freed political prisoners and allowed more open discourse.Syria’s Princess Diana?
Several months after taking office, Bashar married Asma al-Akhras, a British-born woman who is known for being attractive and stylish. The two eventually had three children.
The couple lived in an apartment in the upscale neighborhood of Abu Rummaneh in Damascus, as opposed to a mansion like other Arab leaders.
Asma, who was born in Acton, West London, to Sunni Muslims from Homs, Syria, became known as Syria’s Princess Diana.
