Bashar Al-Assad: Syria's 'tyrant' who pushed the country into a decade-long civil war

On the morning of Sunday (Dec 8), Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was nowhere to be found in Damascus when the rebel forces stormed the capital city after taking over five other cities in a span of a few days.

As the leader now appeared to have been left to fend for himself, the sequence of tumultuous events marked the end of the 24-year rule of the man who has often been called a "tyrant".

Years ago, it was the same President Assad who spearheaded the merciless crackdown on the people who were carrying out the pro-democracy revolt that soon turned into one of the bloodiest wars of the century and eventually toppled the leader.

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President Assad faced nationwide protests demanding his resignation and also battled an armed rebellion. He eventually crushed it, and took back control of much of the country embroiled in the civil war which had started in 2011.

Who is Bashar al-Assad?

Bashar al-Assad became the president of Syria in 2000 after his father Hafez al-Assad, who was the country's ruler for almost 30 years, died of a heart attack in the same year.

Bashar was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965, and was the second son of Hafez, the leader of the Ba'ath Party and a military officer who became Syria's president after a coup in 1971.

Also Read:Syria's 13-year civil war: Timeline of key events since 2011 - What you should know

The Assad family came from the Shia minority sect of Alawites. Shias are only around13 per cent of the population. But the Alawites, and particularly the Assad family, are known to have been dominant in politics since the 1960s.

Bashar studied in a school in Damascus and completed his medical degree specialising in ophthalmology from the University of Damascus in 1988. He worked as an army doctor and later shifted to London in 1992 for further studies.

Bashar's older brother Basil, who was expected to succeed their father, lost his life in a car accident in 1994.

Bashar al-Assad comes to power

The then 29-year-old Bashar came back to Syria to take the place of his brother. After his father's death on June 10, 2000, the Syrian parliament amended the constitution swiftly and decreased the minimum age for presidential candidates from 40 to 34 to bring Bashar al-Assad to the helm.

On July 11, 2000, Bashar officially took office and became commander-in-chief of the military and the leader of the Ba'ath Party. As soon as he came to power, Bashar refused to adopt democracy as a model for Syria.

He followed the hardline stance of his father on the conflict between Syria and Israel, and also opposed the US invasion of Iraq.

Also Read:Damascus falls: Syrian rebels announce capital city 'free', PM says ready for handover

Assad's regime also saw strained relations between Syria and Lebanon after the involvement of Damascus was suspected in the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri as Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon.

Civil war in Syria

Mass protests started in Syria in March 2011, inspired by the Arab Spring. Initially, Assad promised to bring reforms like releasing political prisoners and abolishing emergency laws, however, violence escalated against the protesters.

Troops and tanks were deployed by the government as Assad played the role of a victim of what he called an international conspiracy.

The armed opposition groups picked up the momentum by September 2011 and it soon turned into a full-blown civil war by mid-2012.

Hundreds were killed near Damascus in August 2019 in attacks which involved chemical weapons, which led to calls for international military action.

The United States, Russia and Syria signed an agreement as per which the country's chemical weapons were placed under international control.

Watch:Syrian Army Command Tells Officers That Assad's Rule Has Ended, Officer Says

Even after this, indiscriminate use of weapons was seen in the war, including barrel bombs dropped by Assad's forces in rebel-controlled areas.

A controversial measure, Law 10, was also implemented in which the government was free to seize property from the displaced Syrians which were then redistributed to loyalists.

Elections were held by Assad in June 2014 which kept him in power, but the polls were widely believed to be a sham.

After 13 long years, the Syrian rebel forces finally stormed into Damascus and toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime which marked the historic end of the Assad family's 50-year rule of Syria.

(With inputs from agencies)

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