Marshal Bashar al-Assadبشار األسد

Assad in 2018

19th President of Syria

Incumbent

Assumed office 17 July 2000

Prime Minister MuhammadMustafa Mero Muhammad Naji al-Otari Adel Safar Riyad Farid Hijab Omar IbrahimGhalawanji Wael Nader al-Halqi Imad Khamis

Vice President Abdul HalimKhaddam Zuhair Masharqa Farouk al-Sharaa Najah al-Attar

Preceded by Abdul HalimKhaddam (Acting)

Bashar al-AssadBashar Hafez al-Assad (Arabic: األسد حافظ ,Baššār Ḥāfiẓ al-ʾAsad بشار Levantine pronunciation: [baʃˈʃaːr ˈħaːfezˤ elˈʔasad]; English pronunciation ; born 11

September 1965) is a Syrian politician who has been the 19th and current Presidentof Syria since 17 July 2000. He is also commander-in-chief of the Syrian ArmedForces, Regional Secretary of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party's branch in Syria. Heis a son of Hafez al-Assad, who was President of Syria from 1971 to 2000.

Born and raised in Damascus, Assad graduated from the medical school ofDamascus University in 1988 and started to work as a doctor in the Syrian Army.Four years later, he attended postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital inLondon, specialising in ophthalmology. In 1994, after his elder brother Bassel diedin a car crash, Bashar was recalled to Syria to take over Bassel's role as heirapparent. He entered the military academy, taking charge of the Syrian militarypresence in Lebanon in 1998. On 10 July 2000, Assad was elected as President,succeeding his father, who died in office a month prior. In the 2000 and subsequent2007 election, he received 99.7% and 97.6% support, respectively, in uncontestedreferendums on his leadership.[2][3][4]

On 16 July 2014, Assad was sworn in for another seven-year term after receiving88.7% of votes in the first contested presidential election in Ba'athist Syria'shistory.[5][6][7] The election was dismissed as a "sham" by the Syrian oppositionand its Western allies,[8][9] while an international delegation of observers frommore than 30 countries led by Syria's allies stated that the election was "free andfair".[10][11][12] The Assad government describes itself as secular,[13] while somepolitical scientists have claimed that the government exploits sectarian tensions inthe country and relies upon the Alawite minority to remain in power.[14][15]

Previously seen by many states as a potential reformer, the United States, theEuropean Union and the majority of the Arab League called for Assad's resignationfrom the presidency after he allegedly ordered crackdowns and military sieges onArab Spring protesters, which led to the Syrian Civil War.[16][17] During the SyrianCivil War, an inquiry by the United Nations reported finding evidence whichimplicated Assad in war crimes.[18] In June 2014, Assad was included in a list ofwar crimes indictments of government officials and rebels handed to theInternational Criminal Court.[19] Assad has rejected allegations of war crimes andcriticised the American-led intervention in Syria for attempting regimechange.[20][21]

Early lifeChildhood and education: 1965–1988Medicine: 1988–1994Rise to power: 1994–2000

Presidency

Contents

Regional Secretary of the RegionalCommand of the Syrian Regional

Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'athParty

Incumbent

Assumed office 24 June 2000

Deputy Sulayman Qaddah Mohammed SaeedBekheitan Hilal Hilal

Leader Abdullah al-Ahmar

Preceded by Hafez al-Assad

Personal details

Born Bashar Hafez al-Assad 11 September 1965 Damascus,DamascusGovernorate, Syria

Political party Syrian Ba'ath Party

Other political affiliations

NationalProgressive Front

Spouse(s) Asma al-Assad(m. 2000)

Children Hafez (b. 2001)[1]

Zein (b. 2003)

Karim (b. 2004)

Parents Hafez al-Assad Anisa Makhlouf

Alma mater DamascusUniversity

Military service

Allegiance Syria

Service/branch Syrian ArmedForces

Years ofservice

1988–present

Rank Marshal

Unit Republican Guard(Before 2000)

Commands Syrian Armed

Damascus Spring and pre–Civil War: 2000–2011During the Syrian Civil War

2011–2015Since Russian intervention in September 2015

Syria under Bashar al-Assad's ruleEconomyHuman rights

Alleged war crimes

Foreign relationsIraq War and insurgencyEgyptInvolvement in LebanonArab–Israeli conflictUnited StatesNorth Korea

Al-Qaeda and ISIL

Public and personal lifeDomestic opposition and supportInternational support

Right-wingLeft-wing

International public relationsPersonal life

Distinctions

References

Further reading

External links

Bashar Hafez al-Assad was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965, the secondoldest son of Anisa Makhlouf and Hafez al-Assad.[22] Al-Assad in Arabic means"the Lion". Assad's paternal grandfather had managed to change his status frompeasant to minor notable and, to reflect this, in 1927 he had changed the familyname from Wahsh (meaning "Savage") to Al-Assad.[23]

Early life

Childhood and education: 1965–1988

Hafez al-Assad with his family in the early1970s. From left to right: Bashar, Maher,Anisa, Majd, Bushra, and Bassel.

Forces

Battles/wars Syrian Civil War

Assad's father, Hafez, was born to an impoverished rural family of Alawitebackground and rose through the Ba'ath Party ranks to take control of the Syrianbranch of the Party in the 1970 Corrective Revolution, culminating in his rise to theSyrian presidency.[24] Hafez promoted his supporters within the Ba'ath Party, many of whom were also of Alawitebackground.[22][25] After the revolution, Alawite strongmen were installed while Sunnis, Druzes and Ismailis were removed from thearmy and Ba'ath party.[26]

Assad had five siblings, three of whom are deceased. A sister named Bushra died in infancy.[27] Assad's youngest brother, Majd, wasnot a public figure and little is known about him other than he was intellectually disabled,[28] and died in 2009 after a "longillness".[29]

Unlike his brothers Bassel and Maher, and second sister, also namedBushra, Bashar was quiet, reserved and lacked interest in politics or themilitary.[30][28][31] The Assad children reportedly rarely saw theirfather,[32] and Bashar later stated that he only entered his father's officeonce while he was president.[33] He was described as "soft-spoken",[34]

and according to a university friend, he was very shy, avoiding eyecontact and speaking in a low voice.[35]

Assad received his primary and secondary education in the Arab-Frenchal-Hurriya School in Damascus.[30] In 1982, he graduated from highschool and went on to study medicine at Damascus University.[36]

In 1988, Assad graduated from medical school and began working as an army doctor atthe Tishrin Military Hospital on the outskirts of Damascus.[37][38] Four years later, hewent to London to begin postgraduate training in ophthalmology at the Western EyeHospital.[39] He was described as a "geeky I.T. guy" during his time in London.[40]

Bashar had few political aspirations,[41] and his father had been grooming Bashar's olderbrother Bassel as the future president.[42] However, Bassel died in a car accident in 1994and Bashar was recalled to the Syrian Army shortly thereafter.

Soon after the death of Bassel, Hafez al-Assad made the decision to make Bashar thenew heir apparent.[43] Over the next six and half years, until his death in 2000, Hafezprepared Bashar for taking over power. Preparations for a smooth transition were madeon three levels. First, support was built up for Bashar in the military and securityapparatus. Second, Bashar's image was established with the public. And lastly, Basharwas familiarised with the mechanisms of running the country.[44]

To establish his credentials in the military, Bashar entered the military academy at Homs in 1994, and was propelled through theranks to become a colonel of the elite Syrian Republican Guard in January 1999.[37][45][46] To establish a power base for Bashar inthe military, old divisional commanders were pushed into retirement, and new, young, Alawite officers with loyalties to him tooktheir place.[47]

The al-Assad family, c. 1993. At the front areHafez and his wife, Anisa. At the back row, fromleft to right: Maher, Bashar, Bassel, Majd, andBushra

Medicine: 1988–1994

Bassel al-Assad, Bashar's olderbrother, died in 1994, paving theway for Bashar's futurepresidency.

Rise to power: 1994–2000

In 1998, Bashar took charge of Syria's Lebanon file, which had since the 1970s been handled by Vice President Abdul HalimKhaddam, who had until then been a potential contender for president.[47] By taking charge of Syrian affairs in Lebanon, Bashar wasable to push Khaddam aside and establish his own power base in Lebanon.[48] In the same year, after minor consultation withLebanese politicians, Bashar installed Emile Lahoud, a loyal ally of his, as the President of Lebanon and pushed former LebanesePrime Minister Rafic Hariri aside, by not placing his political weight behind his nomination as prime minister.[49] To further weakenthe old Syrian order in Lebanon, Bashar replaced the long serving de facto Syrian High Commissioner of Lebanon, Ghazi Kanaan,with Rustum Ghazaleh.[50]

Parallel to his military career, Bashar was engaged in public affairs. He was granted wide powers and became head of the bureau toreceive complaints and appeals of citizens, and led a campaign against corruption. As a result of this campaign, many of Bashar'spotential rivals for president were put on trial for corruption.[37] Bashar also became the President of the Syrian Computer Societyand helped to introduce the internet in Syria, which aided his image as a moderniser and reformer.[51]

After the death of Hafez al-Assad on 10 June 2000, the Constitution of Syria wasamended; the minimum age requirement for the presidency was lowered from 40 to34, which was Bashar's age at the time.[52] Assad was then confirmed president on10 July 2000, with 99.7% support for his leadership. In line with his role asPresident of Syria, he was also appointed commander-in-chief of the Syrian ArmedForces and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party.[51]

Immediately after he took office, a reform movement made cautious advancesduring the Damascus Spring, which led to the shut down of Mezzeh prison and thedeclaration of a wide-ranging amnesty releasing hundreds of Muslim Brotherhoodaffiliated political prisoners.[53] However, security crackdowns commenced againwithin the year.[54][55] Many analysts stated that reform under Assad has been inhibited by the "old guard", members of thegovernment loyal to his late father.[51]

Soon after Assad assumed power, he "made Syria's link with Hezbollah – and its patrons in Tehran – the central component of hissecurity doctrine",[56] and in his foreign policy, Assad is an outspoken critic of the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, andTurkey.[57]

In 2005 Rafic Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon, was assassinated. The Christian Science Monitor reported that "Syriawas widely blamed for Hariri's murder. In the months leading to the assassination, relations between Hariri and Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad plummeted amid an atmosphere of threats and intimidation."[58] The BBC reported in December 2005 that aninterim United Nations report "implicated Syrian officials", while "Damascus has strongly denied involvement in the car bomb whichkilled Hariri in February".[59]

On 27 May 2007, Assad was approved for another seven-year term in a referendum on his presidency, with 97.6% of the votessupporting his continued leadership.[60]

Presidency

Damascus Spring and pre–Civil War: 2000–2011

Bashar al-Assad with then-RussianPresident Dmitry Medvedev, 2010

During the Syrian Civil War

2011–2015

Mass protests in Syria began on 26 January 2011. Protesters called for political reforms and the re-instatement of civil rights, as wellas an end to the state of emergency which had been in place since 1963.[61] One attempt at a "day of rage" was set for 4–5 February,though it ended uneventfully.[62] Protests on 18–19 March were the largest to take place in Syria for decades and the Syrian authorityresponded with violence against its protesting citizens.[63]

The U.S. imposed limited sanctions against the Assad government in April 2011,followed by Barack Obama's executive order as of 18 May 2011 targeting BasharAssad specifically and six other senior officials.[64][65][66] On 23 May 2011, the EUforeign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add Assad and nine otherofficials to a list affected by travel bans and asset freezes.[67] On 24 May 2011,Canada imposed sanctions on Syrian leaders, including Assad.[68]

On 20 June, in response to the demands of protesters and foreign pressure, Assadpromised a national dialogue involving movement toward reform, newparliamentary elections, and greater freedoms. He also urged refugees to returnhome from Turkey, while assuring them amnesty and blaming all unrest on a smallnumber of saboteurs.[69] Assad blamed the unrest on "conspiracies" and accused the

Syrian opposition and protestors of "fitna", breaking with the Syrian Ba'ath Party's strict tradition of secularism.[70]

In July 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Assad had "lostlegitimacy" as President.[65] On 18 August 2011, Barack Obama issued awritten statement that urged Assad to "step aside".[71][72]

In August, the cartoonist Ali Farzat, a critic of Assad's government, wasattacked. Relatives of the humourist told media outlets that the attackersthreatened to break Farzat's bones as a warning for him to stop drawingcartoons of government officials, particularly Assad. Farzat washospitalised with fractures in both hands and blunt force trauma to thehead.[73][74]

Since October 2011, Russia, as a permanent member of the UNSecurity Council, repeatedly vetoed Western-sponsored draftresolutions in the UN Security Council that would have left open thepossibility of UN sanctions, or even military intervention, against theAssad government.[75][76][77]

By the end of January 2012, it was reported by Reuters that over5,000 civilians and protesters (including armed militants) had beenkilled by the Syrian army, security agents and militia (Shabiha),while 1,100 people had been killed by "terrorist armed forces".[78]

On 10 January 2012, Assad gave a speech in which he maintained the uprising was engineered by foreign countries and proclaimedthat "victory [was] near". He also said that the Arab League, by suspending Syria, revealed that it was no longer Arab. However,Assad also said the country would not "close doors" to an Arab-brokered solution if "national sovereignty" was respected. He alsosaid a referendum on a new constitution could be held in March.[79]

On 27 February 2012, Syria claimed that a proposal that a new constitution be drafted received 90% support during the relevantreferendum. The referendum introduced a fourteen-year cumulative term limit for the president of Syria. The referendum waspronounced meaningless by foreign nations including the U.S. and Turkey; the European Union announced fresh sanctions against

[80]

Protests in Douma, 8 April 2011

Pro-Assad demonstration in Latakia, 20 June2011

A mural of Assad in Latakia in November 2011

key regime figures.[80] In July 2012, Russian Foreign MinisterSergey Lavrov denounced Western powers for what he saidamounted to blackmail thus provoking a civil war in Syria.[81]

On 15 July 2012, the International Committee of the Red Crossdeclared Syria to be in a state of civil war,[82] as the nationwidedeath toll for all sides was reported to have neared 20,000.[83]

On 6 January 2013, Assad, in his first major speech since June, saidthat the conflict in his country was due to "enemies" outside of Syriawho would "go to Hell" and that they would "be taught a lesson".However he said that he was still open to a political solution sayingthat failed attempts at a solution "does not mean we are not interestedin a political solution."[84][85]

After the fall of four military bases in September 2014,[86] which were the last government footholds in the Raqqa Governorate,Assad received significant criticism from his Alawite base of support.[87] This included remarks made by Douraid al-Assad, cousinof Bashar al-Assad, demanding the resignation of the Syrian Defence Minister, Fahd Jassem al-Freij, following the massacre by theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant of hundreds of government troops captured after the ISIL victory at Tabqa Air base.[88] This wasshortly followed by Alawite protests in Homs demanding the resignation of the governor,[89] and the dismissal of Assad's cousinHafez Makhlouf from his security position leading to his subsequent exile to Belarus.[90] Growing resentment towards Assad amongAlawites was fuelled by the disproportionate number of soldiers killed in fighting hailing from Alawite areas,[91] a sense that theAssad regime has abandoned them,[92] as well as the failing economic situation.[93] Figures close to Assad began voicing concernsregarding the likelihood of its survival, with one saying in late 2014; "I don't see the current situation as sustainable ... I thinkDamascus will collapse at some point."[86]

In 2015, several members of the Assad family died in Latakia underunclear circumstances.[94] On 14 March, an influential cousin ofAssad and founder of the shabiha, Mohammed Toufic al-Assad, wasassassinated with five bullets to the head in a dispute over influencein Qardaha—the ancestral home of the Assad family.[95] In April2015, Assad ordered the arrest of his cousin Munther al-Assad inAlzirah, Latakia.[96] It remains unclear whether the arrest was due toactual crimes.[97]

After a string of government defeats in northern and southern Syria,analysts noted growing government instability coupled withcontinued waning support for the Assad government among its coreAlawite base of support,[98] and that there were increasing reports ofAssad relatives, Alawites, and businessmen fleeing Damascus for Latakia and foreign countries.[99][100] Intelligence chief AliMamlouk was placed under house arrest sometime in April, and stood accused of plotting with Assad's exiled uncle Rifaat al-Assadto replace Bashar as president.[101] Further high-profile deaths included the commanders of the Fourth Armoured Division, the Bellimilitary airbase, the army's special forces and of the First Armoured Division, with an errant air strike during the Palmyra offensivekilling two officers who were reportedly related to Assad.[102]

In early September 2015, against the backdrop of reports that Russia was deploying troops in Syria ready for combat, RussianPresident Vladimir Putin said that while such talk was "premature", Russia was "already providing Syria with sufficiently serioushelp: with both equipment and training soldiers, with our weapons".[103][104] Shortly after the start of direct military intervention by

Destroyed vehicle on a devastated Aleppo street, 6October 2012

A poster of Bashar al-Assad at a checkpoint on theoutskirts of Damascus

Since Russian intervention in September 2015

Russia on 30 September 2015 at the formal request of the Syrian government, Putinstated the military operation had been thoroughly prepared in advance and definedRussia's goal in Syria as "stabilising the legitimate power in Syria and creating theconditions for political compromise".[105]

In November 2015, Assad reiterated that a diplomatic process to bring the country'scivil war to an end could not begin while it was occupied by terrorists.[106] On 22November, Assad said that within two months of its air campaign Russia hadachieved more in its fight against ISIL than the U.S.-led coalition had achieved in ayear.[107] In an interview with Česká televize on 1 December, he said that theleaders who demanded his resignation were of no interest to him, as nobody takesthem seriously because they are "shallow" and controlled by the U.S.[108][109] Atthe end of December 2015, senior U.S. officials privately admitted that Russia hadachieved its central goal of stabilising Syria and, with the costs relatively low, couldsustain the operation at this level for years to come.[110]

In January 2016, Putin stated that Russia was supporting Assad's forces and was ready to back anti-Assad rebels as long as they werefighting ISIL.[111] On 11 January 2016, the senior Russian defence ministry official said that the "Russian air force was striking insupport of eleven groups of democratic opposition that number over seven thousand people."[112]

On 22 January 2016, the Financial Times, citing anonymous "senior westernintelligence officials", claimed that Russian general Igor Sergun, the director ofGRU, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces ofthe Russian Federation, had shortly before his sudden death on 3 January 2016 beensent to Damascus with a message from Vladimir Putin asking that President Assadstep aside.[113] The Financial Times' report was promptly denied by Putin'sspokesman.[114]

It was reported in December 2016 that Assad's forces had retaken half of rebel-heldAleppo, ending a 6-year stalemate in the city.[115][116] On 15 December, as it wasreported government forces were on the brink of retaking all of Aleppo—a "turningpoint" in the Civil War, Assad celebrated the liberation of the city, and stated,"History is being written by every Syrian citizen."[117]

After the election of Donald Trump, the priority of the United States concerning Assad was unlike the priority of the Obamaadministration and in March 2017 United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley stated the U.S. was no longerfocused on "getting Assad out",[118] but this position changed in the wake of the 2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.[119]

Following the missile strikes on a Syrian airbase on the orders of President Trump, Assad's spokesperson described the United States'behaviour as "unjust and arrogant aggression" and stated that the missile strikes "do not change the deep policies" of the Syriangovernment.[120] President Assad also told the Agence France-Presse that Syria's military had given up all its chemical weapons in2013, and would not have used them if they still retained any, and stated that the chemical attack was a "100 percent fabrication" usedto justify a U.S. airstike.[121] In June 2017, Russian President Putin stated that "Assad didn't use the [chemical weapons]" and thatthe chemical attack was "done by people who wanted to blame him for that."[122]

On 7 November 2017, the Syrian government announced that it had signed the Paris Climate Agreement.[123]

Assad greeting Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, 21 October 2015

Bashar al-Assad meets with Iran'srepresentative on Syrian affairs, AliAkbar Velayati, 6 May 2016

Syria under Bashar al-Assad's rule

Economy

According to ABC News, as a result of the Syrian Civil War, "government-controlled Syria is truncated in size, battered andimpoverished".[124] Economic sanctions (the Syria Accountability Act) were applied long before the Syrian Civil War by the UnitedStates, and were joined by the European Union at the outbreak of the civil war, causing disintegration of the Syrian economy.[125]

These sanctions were reinforced in October 2014 by the EU and U.S.[126][127] Industry in parts of the country that are still held bythe government is heavily state-controlled, with economic liberalisation being reversed during the current conflict.[128] The LondonSchool of Economics has stated that as a result of the Syrian Civil War, a war economy has developed in Syria.[129] A 2014 EuropeanCouncil on Foreign Relations report also stated that a war economy has formed:

Three years into a conflict that is estimated to have killed at least 140,000 people from both sides, much of the Syrianeconomy lies in ruins. As the violence has expanded and sanctions have been imposed, assets and infrastructure havebeen destroyed, economic output has fallen, and investors have fled the country. Unemployment now exceeds 50percent and half of the population lives below the poverty line ... against this backdrop, a war economy is emergingthat is creating significant new economic networks and business activities that feed off the violence, chaos, andlawlessness gripping the country. This war economy – to which Western sanctions have inadvertently contributed – iscreating incentives for some Syrians to prolong the conflict and making it harder to end it.[130]

A United Nations commissioned report by the Syrian Centre for Policy Research states that two-thirds of the Syrian population nowlives in "extreme poverty".[131] Unemployment stands at 50 percent.[132] In October 2014 a $50 million mall opened in Tartusprovoked criticism from government supporters, and was seen as part of an Assad government policy of attempting to project a senseof normalcy throughout the civil war.[133] A government policy to give preference to families of slain soldiers for government jobswas cancelled after it caused an uproar,[91] while rising accusations of corruption caused protests.[93] In December 2014 the EUbanned sales of jet fuel to the Assad government, forcing the government to buy more expensive uninsured jet fuel shipments in thefuture.[134]

A 2007 law required internet cafés to record all the comments users post onchat forums.[135] Websites such as Arabic Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebookwere blocked intermittently between 2008 and February 2011.[136][137][138]

Human Rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and AmnestyInternational, have detailed how the Assad government's secret policeallegedly tortured, imprisoned, and killed political opponents, and those whospeak out against the government.[139][140] In addition, some 600 Lebanesepolitical prisoners are thought to be held in government prisons since theSyrian occupation of Lebanon, with some held for as long as over 30years.[141] Since 2006, the Assad government has reportedly expanded the useof travel bans against political dissidents.[142] In an interview with ABC Newsin 2007, Assad stated: "We don't have such [things as] political prisoners,"though The New York Times reported the arrest of 30 Syrian political dissidents who were organising a joint opposition front inDecember 2007, with 3 members of this group considered to be opposition leaders being remanded in custody.[143]

In 2010, Syria banned face veils at universities.[144][145] Following the Syrian uprising in 2011, Assad partially relaxed the veilban.[146]

Foreign Policy magazine released an editorial on Assad's position in the wake of the 2011 protests:[147]

During its decades of rule... the Assad family developed a strong political safety net by firmly integrating the militaryinto the government. In 1970, Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, seized power after rising through the ranks of theSyrian armed forces, during which time he established a network of loyal Alawites by installing them in key posts. In

Human rights

Billboard with a portrait of Bashar al-Assadand the text 'Syria is protected by God' onthe old city wall of Damascus in 2006

fact, the military, ruling elite, and ruthless secret police are so intertwined that it is now impossible to separate theAssad government from the security establishment.... So... the government and its loyal forces have been able to deterall but the most resolute and fearless oppositional activists. In this respect, the situation in Syria is to a certain degreecomparable to Saddam Hussein's strong Sunni minority rule in Iraq.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has claimed that at least 10 European citizens were tortured by the Assad government whiledetained during the Syrian Civil War, potentially leaving Assad open to prosecution by individual European countries for warcrimes.[148] Stephen Rapp, the United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, has argued that the crimes allegedlycommitted by Assad are the worst seen since those of Nazi Germany.[149] In March 2015, Rapp further stated that the case againstAssad is "much better" than those against Slobodan Milošević of Serbia or Charles Taylor of Liberia, both of whom were indicted byinternational tribunals.[150]

In a February 2015 interview with the BBC, Assad described accusations that the Syrian Arab Air Force used barrel bombs as"childish", stating that his forces have never used these types of "barrel" bombs and responded with a joke about not using "cookingpots" either.[151] The BBC Middle East editor conducting the interview, Jeremy Bowen, later described Assad's statement regardingbarrel bombs as "patently not true".[152][153]

Nadim Shehadi, the director of The Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies stated that "In the early 1990s, Saddam Husseinwas massacring his people and we were worried about the weapons inspectors," and claimed that "Assad did that too. He kept usbusy with chemical weapons when he massacred his people."[154][155]

In September 2015, France began an inquiry into Assad for crimes against humanity, with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabiusstating "Faced with these crimes that offend the human conscience, this bureaucracy of horror, faced with this denial of the values ofhumanity, it is our responsibility to act against the impunity of the killers".[156]

In February 2016, head of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Paulo Pinheiro, told reporters: "The mass scale of deaths ofdetainees suggests that the government of Syria is responsible for acts that amount to extermination as a crime against humanity."The UN Commission reported finding "unimaginable abuses", including women and children as young as seven perishing whilebeing held by Syrian authorities. The report also stated: "There are reasonable grounds to believe that high-ranking officers—including the heads of branches and directorates—commanding these detention facilities, those in charge of the military police, aswell as their civilian superiors, knew of the vast number of deaths occurring in detention facilities ... yet did not take action to preventabuse, investigate allegations or prosecute those responsible".[157]

In March 2016, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs led by New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith called on the Obamaadministration to create a war crimes tribunal to investigate and prosecute violations "whether committed by the officials of theGovernment of Syria or other parties to the civil war".[158]

In April 2017, there was a sarin chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun that killed more than 80 people. The attack prompted USPresident Donald Trump to order the US military to launch 59 missiles at a Syrian airbase[159]. Several months later, a joint reportfrom the United Nations and international chemical weapons inspectors found the attack was the work of the Assad regime[160].

In April 2018 an alleged chemical attack occurred in Douma, prompting the U.S. its and allies to accuse Assad of violatinginternational laws and initiating the 2018 bombing of Damascus and Homs. Both Syria and Russia have refuted the involvement ofthe Syrian government at this time.[161][162]

In June 2018, Germany's chief prosecutor issued an international arrest warrant for one of Assad's most senior military officials,Jamil Hassan[163]. Hassan is the head of Syria's powerful Air Force Intelligence Directorate. Detention centers run by Air ForceIntelligence are among the most notorious in Syria, and thousands are believed to have died because of torture or neglect. Chargesfiled against Hassan claim he had command responsibility over the facilities and therefore knew of the abuse. The move againstHassan marked an important milestone of prosecutors trying to bring senior members of Assad's inner circle to trial for war crimes.

Alleged war crimes

Assad opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite a long-standing animosity betweenthe Syrian and Iraqi governments. Assad used Syria's seat in one of the rotatingpositions on the United Nations Security Council to try to prevent the invasion ofIraq.[164]

According to veteran U.S intelligence officer Malcolm Nance, the Syriangovernment had developed deep relations with former Vice Chairman of the IraqiRevolutionary Command Council Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri. Despite the historicaldifferences between the two Ba'ath factions, al-Douri reportedly urged Saddam toopen oil pipelines with Syria, building a financial relationship with the Assad family.After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, al-Douri allegedly fled to Damascus where heorganised the National Command of the Islamic Resistance which co-ordinatedmajor combat operations during the Iraqi insurgency.[165][166] In 2009, GeneralDavid Petraeus, who was at the time heading the United States Central Command,told reporters from Al Arabiya that al-Douri was residing in Syria.[167]

The U.S commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, George W. Casey Jr., accusedAssad of providing funding, logistics, and training to insurgents in Iraq to launchattacks against U.S. and allied forces occupying Iraq.[168] Iraqi leaders such asformer national security advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie and former Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki have accused Assad of harbouring and supporting Iraqi militants.[169][170]

At the outset of the Arab Spring, Syrian state media focused primarily upon Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, demonising him as pro-U.S.and comparing him unfavourably with Assad.[171] Assad told The Wall Street Journal in this same period that he considered himself"anti-Israel" and "anti-West", and that because of these policies he was not in danger of being overthrown.[57]

Assad argued that Syria's gradual withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, beginning in 2000, was a result of the assassination ofLebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and ended in May 2005.[172] According to testimony submitted to the Special Tribunal forLebanon, when talking to Rafic Hariri at the Presidential Palace in Damascus in August 2004, Assad allegedly said to him, "I willbreak Lebanon over your [Hariri's] head and over Walid Jumblatt's head" if Émile Lahoud was not allowed to remain in office despiteHariri's objections; that incident was thought to be linked to Hariri's subsequent assassination.[173] In early 2015, journalist and adhoc Lebanese-Syrian intermediary Ali Hamade stated before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that Rafic Hariri's attempts to reducetensions with Syria were considered a "mockery" by Assad.[174]

Despite gaining re-election in 2007, Assad's position was considered by some to have been weakened by the withdrawal of Syriantroops from Lebanon following the Cedar Revolution in 2005. There has also been pressure from the U.S. concerning claims thatSyria is linked to terrorist networks, exacerbated by Syrian condemnation of the assassination of Hezbollah military leader, ImadMughniyah, in Damascus in 2008. Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majeed stated that, "Syria, which condemns this cowardlyterrorist act, expresses condolences to the martyr family and to the Lebanese people."[175]

In May 2015, Lebanese politician Michel Samaha was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for his role in a terrorist bomb plotthat he claimed Assad was aware of.[176]

Foreign relations

Assad meets with U.S. Senator TedKaufman in 2009

Assad with Russian President DmitryMedvedev in 2010

Iraq War and insurgency

Egypt

Involvement in Lebanon

The United States, the European Union, the March 14 Alliance, and France accuse Assad of providing support to militant groupsactive against Israel and against opposition political groups. The latter category would include most political parties other thanHezbollah, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine.[177] According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, Assadstated the U.S. could benefit from the Syrian experience in fighting organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood at the Hamamassacre.[178]

In a speech about the 2006 Lebanon War in August 2006, Assad said that Hezbollah had "hoisted the banner of victory", hailing itsactions as a "successful resistance".[179]

In April 2008, Assad told a Qatari newspaper that Syria and Israel had been discussing a peace treaty for a year. This was confirmedin May 2008, by a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. As well as the treaty, the future of the Golan Heights wasbeing discussed. Assad was quoted in The Guardian as telling the Qatari paper:

... there would be no direct negotiations with Israel until a new US president takes office. The US was the only partyqualified to sponsor any direct talks, [Assad] told the paper, but added that the Bush administration "does not have thevision or will for the peace process. It does not have anything."[180]

According to leaked American cables, Assad called Hamas an "uninvited guest" and said "If you want me to be effective and active, Ihave to have a relationship with all parties. Hamas is Muslim Brotherhood, but we have to deal with the reality of their presence,"comparing Hamas to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood which was crushed by his father Hafez al-Assad. He also said Hamas woulddisappear if peace was brought to the Middle East.[181][182]

Assad has indicated that the peace treaty that he envisions would not be the same kind of peace treaty Israel has with Egypt, wherethere is a legal border crossing and open trade. In a 2006 interview with Charlie Rose, Assad said "There is a big difference betweentalking about a peace treaty and peace. A peace treaty is like a permanent ceasefire. There's no war, maybe you have an embassy, butyou actually won't have trade, you won't have normal relations because people will not be sympathetic to this relation as long as theyare sympathetic with the Palestinians: half a million who live in Syria and half a million in Lebanon and another few millions in otherArab countries."[172]

During the visit of Pope John Paul II to Syria in 2001, Assad requested an apology to Muslims for the Crusades and criticised Israelitreatment of Palestinians, stating that "territories in Lebanon, the Golan and Palestine have been occupied by those who killed theprinciple of equality when they claimed that God created a people distinguished above all other peoples".[183] He also compared thesuffering of Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis to the suffering endured by Jesus in Judea, and said that "they tried to kill theprinciples of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and killthe Prophet Muhammad".[184][185][186][187] Responding to accusations that his comment was antisemitic, Assad said that "We inSyria reject the term antisemitism. ... Semites are a race and [Syrians] not only belong to this race, but are its core. Judaism, on theother hand, is a religion which can be attributed to all races."[188] He also stated that "I was talking about Israelis, not Jews. ... WhenI say Israel carries out killings, it's the reality: Israel tortures Palestinians. I didn't speak about Jews," and criticised Western mediaoutlets for misinterpreting his comments.[189]

In February 2011, Assad backed an initiative to restore 10 synagogues in Syria, which had a Jewish community numbering 30,000 in1947, but only 200 Jews by 2011.[190]

Assad met with U.S. scientists and policy leaders during a science diplomacy visit in 2009 and he expressed interest in buildingresearch universities and using science and technology to promote innovation and economic growth.[191]

Arab–Israeli conflict

United States

In response to Executive Order 13769 which mandated refugees from Syria be indefinitely suspended from being able to resettle inthe United States, Assad appeared to defend the measure, stating "It's against the terrorists that would infiltrate some of theimmigrants to the West... I think the aim of Trump is to prevent those people from coming," adding that it was "not against the Syrianpeople".[192] This reaction was in contrast to other leaders of countries affected by the Executive Order who condemned it.[193]

North Korea has allegedly aided Syria in developing and enhancing a ballistic missiles programme.[194][195] They also reportedlyhelped Syria develop a suspected nuclear reactor in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. U.S. officials claimed the reactor was probably "notintended for peaceful purposes", but American senior intelligence officials doubted it was meant for the production of nuclearweapons.[196] The supposed nuclear reactor was destroyed by the Israeli Air Force in 2007 during Operation Orchard.[197] Followingthe airstrike, Syria wrote a letter to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon calling the incursion a "breach of airspaceof the Syrian Arab Republic" and "not the first time Israel has violated" Syrian airspace.[198]

While hosting an 8 March 2015 delegation from North Korea led by North Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sin Hong Chol,Assad stated that Syria and North Korea were being "targeted" because they are "among those few countries which enjoy realindependence".[199]

According to Syrian Opposition sources, North Korea has sent army units to fight on behalf of Assad in the Syrian Civil War.[200]

In 2018, the United Nations exposed North Korea for their facilitation of Syria's development of chemical weapons. According to areport by U.N. investigators, North Korea provided the Syrian government with acid-resistant tiles, valves and thermometers.Additionally, DPRK missile technicians had been seen inside various Syrian chemical weapons facilities. This series of about 40unreported shipments between North Korea and Syria, on which were the chemical weapons materials as well as prohibited ballisticmissile parts, is said to have occurred throughout 2012–2017.

In 2001, Assad condemned the September 11 attacks.[201] In 2003, Assad revealed in an interview with a Kuwaiti newspaper that hedoubted the organization of al-Qaeda even existed. He was quoted as saying, "Is there really an entity called al-Qaeda? Was it inAfghanistan? Does it exist now?" He went on further to remark about Osama bin Laden, commenting: "[he] cannot talk on the phoneor use the Internet, but he can direct communications to the four corners of the world? This is illogical."[202]

Assad's relationship with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has been subject to much attention. In 2014, journalistand terrorism expert Peter R. Neumann maintained, citing Syrian records captured by the U.S. military in the Iraqi border town ofSinjar and leaked State Department cables, that "in the years that preceded the uprising, Assad and his intelligence services took theview that jihad could be nurtured and manipulated to serve the Syrian government's aims".[203] Other leaked cables containedremarks 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 usingSyrian 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".[204]

During the Iraq War, the Assad government was accused of training jihadis and facilitating their passage into Iraq, with theseinfiltration routes remaining active until the Syrian Civil War; US General Jack Keane has stated that "Al Qaeda fighters who areback in Syria, I am confident, they are relying on much they learned in moving through Syria into Iraq for more than five years whenthey were waging war against the U.S. and Iraq Security Assistance Force".[205] Iraqi president Nouri al-Maliki threatened Assadwith an international tribunal over the matter, and ultimately lead to the 2008 Abu Kamal raid, and United States airstrikes withinSyria during the Iraq War.[206]

During the Syrian Civil War, multiple opposition and anti-Assad parties in the conflict accused Assad of collusion with ISIS; severalsources have claimed that ISIS prisoners were strategically released from Syrian prisons at the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in2011.[207] It has also been reported that the Syrian government has bought oil directly from ISIL.[208] A businessman operating in

North Korea

Al-Qaeda and ISIL

both government and ISIL-controlled territory has claimed that "out of necessity" the Assad government has "had dealings withISIS."[209] At its height, ISIS was making $40 million a month from the sale of oil, with spreadsheets and accounts kept by oil bossAbu Sayyaf suggesting the majority of the oil was sold to the Syrian government.[210][208] In 2014, U.S. Secretary of State JohnKerry claimed that the Assad government has tactically avoided ISIS forces in order to weaken "moderate opposition" such as theFree Syrian Army,[211] as well as "purposely ceding some territory to them [ISIS] in order to make them more of a problem so he canmake the argument that he is somehow the protector against them".[212] A Jane's Defence Weekly database analysis claimed that onlya small percentage of the Syrian government's attacks were targeted at ISIS in 2014.[213] The Syrian National Coalition has statedthat the Assad government has operatives inside ISIS,[214] as has the leadership of Ahrar al-Sham.[215] ISIS members captured bythe FSA have claimed that they were directed to commit attacks by Assad regime operatives.[216] Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimidisputed such assertions in February 2014, arguing that "ISIS has a record of fighting the regime on multiple fronts", many rebelfactions have engaged in oil sales to the Syrian regime because it is "now largely dependent on Iraqi oil imports via Lebanese andEgyptian third-party intermediaries", and while "the regime is focusing its airstrikes [on areas] where it has some real expectations ofadvancing" claims that it "has not hit ISIS strongholds" are "untrue". He concluded: "Attempting to prove an ISIS-regime conspiracywithout any conclusive evidence is unhelpful, because it draws attention away from the real reasons why ISIS grew and gained suchprominence: namely, rebel groups tolerated ISIS."[217] Similarly, Max Abrams and John Glaser stated in the Los Angeles Times inDecember 2017 that "The evidence of Assad sponsoring Islamic State ... was about as strong as for Saddam Hussein sponsoring AlQaeda."[218]

Mark Lyall Grant, then Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, stated at the outset of the American-led intervention in Syria that "ISIS is a monster that the Frankenstein of Assad has largely created".[219] French President FrançoisHollande stated, "Assad cannot be a partner in the fight against terrorism, he is the de facto ally of jihadists".[220] Analyst NoahBonsey of the International Crisis Group has suggested that ISIS are politically expedient for Assad, as "the threat of ISIS provides away out [for Assad] because the regime believes that over time the U.S. and other countries backing the opposition will eventuallyconclude that the regime is a necessary partner on the ground in confronting this jihadi threat", while Robin Wright of the MiddleEast Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars has stated "the outside world's decision to focus on ISIS hasironically lessened the pressure on Assad."[221] In May 2015, Mario Abou Zeid of the Carnegie Middle East Center claimed that therecent Hezbollah offensive "has exposed the reality of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Qalamoun; that it is operatedby the Syrian regime's intelligence", after ISIS in the region engaged in probing attacks against FSA units at the outset of thefighting.[222]

On 1 June 2015, the United States stated that the Assad government was "making air-strikes in support" of an ISIS advance on Syrianopposition positions north of Aleppo.[223] Referring to the same ISIS offensive, the president of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC)Khaled Koja accused Assad of acting "as an air force for ISIS",[224] with the Defence Minister of the SNC Salim Idris claiming thatapproximately 180 Assad-linked officers were serving in ISIS and coordinating the group's attacks with the Syrian Arab Army.[225]

Christopher Kozak of the Institute for the Study of War claims that "Assad sees the defeat of ISIS in the long term and prioritizes inthe more short-and medium-term, trying to cripple the more mainline Syrian opposition [...] ISIS is a threat that lots of people canrally around and even if the regime trades … territory that was in rebel hands over to ISIS control, that weakens the opposition,which has more legitimacy [than ISIS]".[226]

In 2015, the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate,[227] issued a bounty worth millions of dollars for the killing of Assad.[228]

The head of the al-Nusra Front, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, said he would pay "three million euros ($3.4 million) for anyone who cankill Bashar al-Assad and end his story".[229] In 2015, Assad's main regional opponents, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, were openlybacking the Army of Conquest, an umbrella rebel group that reportedly included the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front and anotherSalafi coalition known as Ahrar al-Sham.[230][231][232] In the course of the conflict, ISIS has repeatedly massacred pro-governmentAlawite civilians and executed captured Syrian Alawite soldiers,[233][234] with most Alawites supporting Bashar al-Assad, himselfan Alawite. ISIS, al-Nusra Front and affiliated jihadist groups reportedly took the lead in an offensive on Alawite villages in LatakiaGovernorate of Syria in August 2013.[233][235]

Assad condemned the November 2015 Paris attacks, but added that France's support for Syrian rebel groups had contributed to thespread of terrorism, and rejected sharing intelligence on terrorist threats with French authorities unless France altered its foreignpolicy on Syria.[236][237]

During the Civil War, the Druze in Syria have largely sought to remain neutral, "seeking to stay out of the conflict", while accordingto others over half support the Assad government despite its relative weakness in Druze areas.[238] The "Sheikhs of Dignity"movement, which had sought to remain neutral and to defend Druze areas,[239] blamed the government after its leader Sheikh Wahidal-Balous was assassinated and led to large scale protests which left 6 government security personnel dead.[240]

It has been reported at various stages of the Syrian Civil War that other religious minorities such as the Alawites and Christians inSyria favour the Assad government because of its secularism,[241][242] however opposition exists among Assyrian Christians whohave claimed that the Assad government seeks to use them as "puppets" and deny their distinct ethnicity, which is non-Arab.[243]

Syria's Alawite community is widely written about in the foreign media as Bashar al-Assad's core support base and is said todominate the government's security apparatus,[244][245] yet in April 2016 a BBC report claimed that Alawite leaders released adocument seeking to distance themselves from Assad.[246]

In 2014, the Christian Syriac Military Council, the largest Christian organization in Syria, formed an alliance with the Free SyrianArmy opposed to Assad,[247] joining other Syrian Christian militias such as the Sutoro who had joined the Syrian opposition againstthe Assad government.[248]

In June 2014, Assad won a controversial election held in government-controlled areas (and ignored in opposition held areas[249] andKurdish areas governed by the Democratic Union Party[250]) with 88.7% of vote. Turnout was estimated to be 73.42% of eligiblevoters, including those in rebel-controlled areas.[251] Individuals interviewed in a "Sunni-dominated, middle-class neighborhood ofcentral Damascus" claimed wide support for Assad among the Sunnis in Syria.[252] Attempts to hold an election under thecircumstances of an ongoing civil war were criticised by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[253]

Assad's support from the right-wing has mostly been from the far-right, both before and during the Syrian Civil War. David Dukehosted a televised speech on Syrian national television in 2005.[254] Georgy Shchokin was invited to Syria in 2006 by the Syrianforeign minister and awarded a medal by the Ba'ath party, while Shchokin's institution the Interregional Academy of PersonnelManagement awarded Assad an honorary doctorate.[255] In 2014, the Simon Wiesenthal Center claimed that Bashar al-Assad hadsheltered Alois Brunner in Syria, and alleged that Brunner advised the Assad government on purging Syria's Jewishcommunity.[256][257]

The National Front in France has been a prominent supporter of Assad since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War,[258] as has theformer leader of the Third Way.[254] In Italy, the parties New Front and CasaPound have both been supportive of Assad, with theNew Front putting up pro-Assad posters and the party's leader praising Assad's commitment to the ideology of Arab nationalism in2013,[259] while CasaPound has also issued statements of support for Assad.[260] Syrian Social Nationalist Party representativeOuday Ramadan has worked in Italy to organize support movements for Assad.[261] Other political parties expressing support forAssad include the Australian corporatists party of Australia, the National Democratic Party of Germany,[262] the National Revival ofPoland,[254] the Freedom Party of Austria,[263] the Bulgarian Ataka party,[264] the Hungarian Jobbik party,[265] the Serbian RadicalParty,[266] the Portuguese National Renovator Party,[267] as well as the Spanish Falange Española de las JONS[268] and AuthenticFalange parties.[269] The Greek neo-Nazi political party Golden Dawn has spoken out in favour of Assad,[270] and the Strasseristgroup Black Lily has claimed to have sent mercenaries to Syria to fight alongside the Syrian army.[271]

Public and personal life

Domestic opposition and support

International support

Right-wing

Nick Griffin, the former leader of the British National Party, was chosen by the Assad government to represent the UK as anambassador and at government-held conferences; Griffin has been an official guest of the Syrian government three times since thebeginning of the Civil War.[272] The European Solidarity Front for Syria, representing several far-right political groups from acrossEurope, has had their delegations received by the Syrian national parliament, with one delegation being met by Syrian Head ofParliament Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi and Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad.[261] InMarch 2015, Assad met with Filip Dewinter of the Belgian party Vlaams Belang.[273] In 2016, Assad met with a Frenchdelegation,[274] which included former leader of the youth movement of the National Front Julien Rochedy.[275]

Left-wing support for Assad has been split since the start of the Syrian Civil War;[276] the Assad government has been accused ofcynically manipulating sectarian identity and anti-imperialism to continue its worst activities.[277] During a visit to the University ofDamascus in November 2005, British politician George Galloway said of Assad, and of the country he leads: "For me he is the lastArab ruler, and Syria is the last Arab country. It is the fortress of the remaining dignity of the Arabs,"[278] and a "breath of freshair".[279]

Hadash has expressed support for the Government of Bashar al-Assad.[280] The leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela andPresident of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, reiterated his full support for the Syrian people in their struggle for peace and reiterates itsstrong condemnation of "the destabilizing actions that are still in Syria, with encouragement from members of NATO".[281] Theleader of the National Liberation Front and President of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has sent a cable of congratulations to Assad,on the occasion of winning his presidential elections.[282] The leader of Guyana's People's Progressive Party and President ofGuyana, Donald Ramotar, said that Assad's win in the presidential election is a great victory for Syria.[283] The leader of the AfricanNational Congress and President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, congratulated Assad on winning the presidential elections.[284] Theleader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, has said that Assad's victory [in thepresidential elections] is an important step to "attain peace in Syria and a clear cut evidence that the Syrian people trust their presidentas a national leader and support his policies which aim at maintaining Syria's sovereignty and unity".[285] The Popular Front for theLiberation of Palestine supports the Assad government.[286][287] The leader of Fatah and President of the State of Palestine,Mahmoud Abbas, has said that electing President Assad means "preserving Syria's unity and sovereignty and that it will help end thecrisis and confront terrorism, wishing prosperity and safety to Syria".[288][289][290]

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has expressed confidence that Syria will eliminate the current crisis and continue underthe leadership of President al-Assad "the fight against terrorism and foreign interference in its internal affairs".[291]

In order to promote their image and media-portrayal overseas, Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad hired United States and UnitedKingdom-based PR firms and consultants.[292] Notably, these securedphotoshoots for Asma al-Assad with fashion and celebrity magazines,including Vogue's March 2011 "A Rose in the Desert".[293][294] Thesefirms included Bell Pottinger and Brown Lloyd James, with the latterbeing paid $5,000 a month for their services.[292][295]

At the outset of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian government networks werehacked by the group Anonymous, revealing that an ex-Al Jazeerajournalist had been hired to advise Assad on how to manipulate the publicopinion of the United States. Among the advice was the suggestion tocompare the popular uprising against the regime to the Occupy WallStreet protests.[296] In a separate e-mail leak several months later by the

Left-wing

International public relations

Bashar al-Assad wearing the "Grand Collar" ofthe National Order of the Southern Cross,accompanied by Brazilian President LuizInácio Lula da Silva in Brasília, 30 June 2010

Supreme Council of the Syrian Revolution, which were published by The Guardian, it was revealed that Assad's consultants hadcoordinated with an Iranian government media advisor.[297] In March 2015, an expanded version of the aforementioned leaks werehanded to NOW News and published the following month.[298]

After the Syrian Civil War began, the Assads began a social media campaign which included building a presence on Facebook,YouTube, and most notably Instagram.[295] A Twitter account for Assad was reportedly activated, however it remainedunverified.[299] This resulted in much criticism, and was described by The Atlantic Wire as "a propaganda campaign that ultimatelyhas made the [Assad] family look worse".[300] The Assad government has also allegedly arrested activists for creating Facebookgroups that the government disapproved of,[87] and has appealed directly to Twitter to remove accounts it disliked.[301] The socialmedia campaign as well as the previously leaked e-mails led to comparisons with Hannah Arendt's A Report on the Banality of Evilby The Guardian, The New York Times and the Financial Times.[302][303][304]

In October 2014, 27,000 photographs depicting torture allegedly committed bythe Assad government were put on display at the United States HolocaustMemorial Museum.[305][306] Lawyers were hired to write a report on theimages by the British law firm Carter-Ruck, which in turn was funded by theGovernment of Qatar.[307]

In November 2014, the Quilliam Foundation reported that a propagandacampaign, which they claimed had the "full backing of Assad", spread falsereports about the deaths of Western-born jihadists in order to deflect attentionfrom the government's alleged war crimes. Using a picture of a Chechenfighter from the Second Chechen War, pro-Assad media reports disseminatedto Western media outlets, leading them to publish a false story regarding thedeath of a non-existent British jihadist.[308]

In 2015, Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War in support of Assad, and in21 October 2015, Assad flew to Moscow and met with Russian presidentVladimir Putin, who said regarding the civil war: "this decision can be madeonly by the Syrian people. Syria is a friendly country. And we are ready tosupport it not only militarily but politically as well.".[309]

Assad speaks fluent English and basic conversational French, having studied at theFranco-Arab al-Hurriyah school in Damascus.[310]

In December 2000, Assad married Asma al-Assad (née Akhras), a British citizen ofSyrian origin from Acton, London.[311][312] In 2001, Asma gave birth to their firstchild, a son named Hafez after the child's grandfather Hafez al-Assad. Theirdaughter Zein was born in 2003, followed by their second son Karim in 2004.[27]

Assad's sister, Bushra al-Assad, and mother, Anisa Makhlouf, left Syria in 2012 and2013, respectively, to live in the United Arab Emirates.[27] Makhlouf died inDamascus in 2016.[313]

Bashar al-Assad with his wife Asma inMoscow, 27 May 2005

Personal life

Assad and his wife Asma, 2003

Distinctions

Ribbon Distinction Country Date Location Notes Reference

Order of PrinceYaroslav the Wise

Ukraine 21 April2002

[314]

Knight Grand Crossof the Royal Order ofFrancis I

TwoSicilies

21 March2004 Damascus

Dynastic order of theHouse of Bourbon-TwoSicilies; Revokedseveral years later byPrince Carlo, Duke ofCastro.

[315][316]

Order of the WhiteRose of Finland

Finland 5 October2009 Damascus One of three official

orders in Finland.[317]

Knight Grand Crosswith Collar of theOrder of Merit of theItalian Republic

Italy 11 March2010 Damascus

Highest rankinghonour of the Republicof Italy. Revoked bythe President of theRepublic on 28September 2012 for"indignity".[318]

[319]

Collar of the Order ofthe Liberator Venezuela

28 June2010 Caracas Highest Venezuelan

state order.[320]

Grand Collar of theOrder of theSouthern Cross

Brazil 30 June2010 Brasília Brazil's highest order

of merit.[321]

Grand Cordon of theNational Order of theCedar

Lebanon 31 July2010 Beirut Second highest

honour of Lebanon.[322]

High Medal of Honorof the IslamicRepublic of Iran

Iran 2 October2010 Tehran Highest national medal

of Iran.[323][324]

1. "¿Quién es el presidente de Siria Bashar al Assad?" (http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2017/04/10/quien-es-el-presidente-de-siria-bashar-al-assad/) [Who is the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad?]. CNN en Español (in Spanish). 10 April2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.

2. "Syrians Vote For Assad in Uncontested Referendum" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052701117.html). The Washington Post. Associated Press. 28 May 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

3. "Syria's Assad wins another term" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6700021.stm). BBC News. 29 May 2007.Retrieved 13 March 2015.

4. "Democracy Damascus style: Assad the only choice in referendum" (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/28/syria.ianblack). The Guardian. 28 May 2007.

5. "Confident Assad launches new term in stronger position" (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-assad-idUSKBN0FL0NN20140717). Reuters. 16 July 2014.

6. Evans, Dominic (28 April 2014). "Assad seeks re-election as Syrian civil war rages" (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/28/us-syria-crisis-assad-idUSBREA3R0LH20140428?irpc=932). Reuters. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

7. "UK's William Hague attacks Assad's Syria elections plan" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27419552). BBC News. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

8. "Syrians in Lebanon battle crowds to vote for Bashar al-Assad" (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/28/syrians-lebaanon-vote-assad-embassies-refugees-boycott). The Guardian. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2017.

9. "Bashar al-Assad sworn in for a third term as Syrian president" (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10970476/Bashar-al-Assad-sworn-in-for-a-third-term-as-Syrian-president.html). The Daily Telegraph. 16July 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

10. "Bashar al-Assad wins re-election in Syria as uprising against him rages on" (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/04/bashar-al-assad-winds-reelection-in-landslide-victory). The Guardian. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2018.

11. "Kerry calls Syrian presidential vote 'meaningless' " (http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/6/4/kerry-calls-syrianpresidentialvotemeaningless.html). Al Jazeera. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2016.

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13. Bronner 2007, p. 63.

14. "Flight of Icarus? The PYD's Precarious Rise in Syria" (http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Syria/151-flight-of-icarus-the-pyd-s-precarious-rise-in-syria.pdf) (PDF).International Crisis Group. 8 May 2014. p. 23. Retrieved 4 October 2014. "The regime aims to compel people to takerefuge in their sectarian and communitarian identities; to split each community into competing branches, dividingthose who support it from those who oppose it"

15. Meuse, Alison (18 April 2015). "Syria's Minorities: Caught Between Sword Of ISIS And Wrath of Assad" (https://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/04/18/400360836/syrias-minorities-caught-between-sword-of-isis-and-wrath-of-assad).NPR. Retrieved 19 April 2015. "Karim Bitar, a Middle East analyst at Paris think tank IRIS [...] says [...] "Minoritiesare often used as a shield by authoritarian regimes, who try to portray themselves as protectors and as a bulwarkagainst radical Islam.""

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19. Nebehay, Stephanie (10 June 2014). "Assad tops list of Syria war crimes suspects handed to ICC: formerprosecutor" (https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0EL25020140610?irpc=932). Reuters. Retrieved 13 March2015.

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22. Zisser 2007, p. 20.

23. Seale & McConville 1992, p. 6.

24. Mikaberidze 2013, p. 38.

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312. "Syria factfile: Key figures" (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1400296/Syria-factfile-Key-figures.html). The DailyTelegraph. London. 24 February 2003. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

313. "Syrian president's mother Anissa Assad dies aged 86" (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/syrian-president-mother-anissa-assad-dies-aged-86-160206210505879.html). Al Jazeera. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.

314. "Про нагородження орденом князя Ярослава Мудрого - від 20 April 2002 № 362/2002" (http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/362/2002). rada.gov.ua.

315. Beshara, Louai (21 March 2004). "SYRIA-ASSAD-BOURBON" (http://www.mediafaxfoto.ro/Preview.aspx?Id=256111) (in Romanian). mediafaxfoto.ro. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 15 March 2015.

316. Beshara, Louai (21 March 2004). "181414500" (http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-presents-prince-carlo-of-news-photo/181414500). Getty Images. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved15 March 2015.

317. "Syyrian sotarikoksista syytetyllä presidentillä Suomen korkein kunniamerkki" (http://www.savonsanomat.fi/kotimaa/IS-Syyrian-sotarikoksista-syytetyll%C3%A4-presidentill%C3%A4-Suomen-korkein-kunniamerkki/427627) (in Finnish).savonsanomat.fi. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

318. ATTO CAMERA INTERROGAZIONE A RISPOSTA SCRITTA 4/17085 (http://banchedati.camera.it/sindacatoispettivo_16/showXhtml.asp?highLight=0&idAtto=57321&stile=8) Banchedati.camera.it (in Italian)

319. "Dettaglio decorato: Al-Assad S.E. Bashar Decorato di Gran Cordone" (http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/DettaglioOnorificenze.aspx?decorato=311336) (in Italian). quirinale.it. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

320. "Gobierno Nacional condecoró al Presidente sirio con Orden del Libertador" (http://www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve/nacionales/gobierno-nacional-condecoro-al-presidente-sirio-orden-libertador/) (in Spanish). El Correo del Orinoco. 29June 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

321. "Diário Oficial da União – Seção" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150402091010/http://www.antt.gov.br/html/objects/_downloadblob.php?cod_blob=3231) (in Portuguese). Superintenência de Seguros Privados. 13 July 2010.ISSN 1677-7042 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1677-7042). Archived from the original (http://www.antt.gov.br/html/objects/_downloadblob.php?cod_blob=3231) (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.

322. "President Michel Suleiman hosts Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140429080726/http://www.marada-news.org/?q=node%2F3338). Marada-news.org. 31July 2010. Archived from the original (http://www.marada-news.org/?q=node/3338) on 29 April 2014.

Bibliography

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Mammone, Andrea; Godin, Emmanuel; Jenkins, Brian, eds. (2012). Mapping the Extreme Right in ContemporaryEurope: From Local to Transnational. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-50265-8.

Ma'oz, Moshe; Ginat, Joseph; Winckler, Onn (1999). Modern Syria: From Ottoman Rule to Pivotal Role in the MiddleEast. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1-898723-83-4.

Mikaberidze, Alexander, ed. (2013). Atrocities, Massacres, and War Crimes: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara,California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-925-7.

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Pierret, Thomas (2013). Religion and State in Syria: The Sunni Ulama from Coup to Revolution. CambridgeUniversity Press. ISBN 978-1-107-60990-7.

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Abboud, Samer (2015). Syria (Hot Spots in Global Politics). Polity. ISBN 978-0-7456-9797-0.Belhadj, Souhaïl (2013). La Syrie de Bashar Al-Asad : Anatomie d'un régime autoritaire [Bashar's Syria: Anatomy ofan Authoritarian Regime] (in French). Belin. ISBN 978-2-7011-6467-0.Hinnebusch, Raymond (2002). Syria: Revolution From Above. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-28568-1.Perthes, Volker (2005). Syria Under Bashar Al-Asad: Modernisation and the Limits of Change. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-19-856750-9.Tabler, Andrew (2011). In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria. Zephyr Press.ISBN 978-1-56976-843-3.

Reports

Yossi Baidatz (August 2001). Bashar's First Year: From Ophthalmology to a National Vision (PDF) (Report).Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ASIN B0006RVLNM. Retrieved 12 March 2015.Annette Büchs (March 2009). The Resilience of Authoritarian Rule in Syria under Hafez and Bashar Al-Asad (PDF)(Report). German Institute of Global and Area Studies. 97. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

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324. "Syrian President Awarded Iran's Medal of Honor" (http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2010/October/Syrian-President-Awarded-Irans-Medal-of-Honor/). CBN News. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

Further reading

External links

Official website

BiographyDecreesSpeechesInterviewsPress releases

Appearances on C-SPANWorks by or about Bashar al-Assad in libraries (WorldCat catalog)"Bashar al-Assad collected news and commentary". The Guardian. "Bashar al-Assad collected news and commentary". The New York Times.Bashar al-Assad on IMDb

Articles

Abdelnour, Ziad K. (12 April 2003). "Syria's Proxy Forces in Iraq". Al-Hayat.Staff writer(s) (10 March 2005). "Profile: Syria's Bashar al-Assad". BBC News.Harris, William (Summer 2005). "Bashar al-Assad's Lebanon Gamble". Middle East Quarterly.Pan, Esther (10 March 2006). "Syria's Leaders". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 19 July2006.Staff writer(s) (31 January 2011). "Interview With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad". The Wall Street Journal.Staff writer(s) (25 March 2011). "Profile: Bashar al-Assad". Al Jazeera.Rose, Charlie (9 September 2013). "Interview with Bashar Hafez al-Assad". PBS.

Political offices

Preceded by Abdul Halim Khaddam

Acting

President of Syria 2000–present Incumbent

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