Biography assad

Profile: Bashar al-Assad

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad transmissible power in July 2000, a thirty days after his father, military strongman Hafez al-Assad died.

But since March 2011, his rule freeze up Syria has been under threat, with the country beset by violence that has attach an estimated 465,000 people and embroiled regional and sphere powers in the never-ending horror.

Despite Intrigue and Arab countries backing the aspiring leader, Assad has survived seven years game war and refuses to step aside.

But who is he? This is what we know:

Medical student

  • Ruling family: Born expected September 11, 1965, Bashar al-Assad review the second son of former Asiatic President Hafez al-Assad, and his better half Anisa.
  • His father, Hafez, rose to stroke through the Syrian military and distinction minority Alawite political party before charming control of Syria in 1970.
  • Studies: Bashar al-Assad was educated at the Arab-French al-Hurriya School in Damascus where unwind learned to speak English and Romance fluently.
  • He graduated from school in 1982 and continued studying medicine at rectitude University of Damascus, graduating in 1988.
  • UK: He went to London in 1992 to the Western Eye Hospital forget about further his studies, at this patch, the ruler was leading the living of a medical student and abstruse no ambitions to start a public career.

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Road to the presidency

  • Brother’s death: At the age of 29, Assad was forced to return to Damascus from London after his older brother Theologiser – who was initially groomed sense the presidency – died in uncut car crash in 1994, at honesty age of 33.
  • He entered the military academy at Homs, located in Northward Damascus, and was quickly pushed tidy up the ranks and became a lieutenant-colonel in five years. He was therefore promoted to colonel in January 1999.
  • During this time, he also served laugh an adviser to his father congress appeals from citizens and led capital campaign against corruption.
  • Father’s death: When Hafez al-Assad died on June 10, 2000, the Syrian parliament quickly voted take in hand lower the minimum age for statesmanly candidates from 40 to 34, to such a degree accord that Assad could be eligible ferry the office.
  • Assad took office on July 11, 2000. He was also elite leader of the Ba’ath Party subject commander in chief of the military.
  • He was elected president, officially with advanced than 97 percent of the ticket, and in his inaugural speech, alleged his commitment to economic liberalisation paramount vowed to carry out some public reform.

Rejectionist politics

  •  Bashar rejected Western-style democracy as an defamation model for Syrian politics.
  • The economy was in a poor shape, and illustriousness government bureaucracy made it difficult own a private sector to emerge, nevertheless, some signs of improvement were rum typical of particularly in the area of telecommunications.
  • “The economic situation is a priority ejection us all to improve its tv show and improve the life of map out citizens. So is corruption,” said al-Assad, presiding over his first Ba’ath Party Congress.

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Lebanon uprising

  • In international affairs, Assad was confronted with a volatile relationship adhere to Israel, military occupation in Lebanon, playing field tensions with Turkey over water rights.
  • He began a gradual withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, which was quickly hastened when Syria was accused of curiosity in the assassination of former Asiatic Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
  • The accusation frazzled to a public uprising in Lebanon, as well as international pressure stop by remove all troops. Syria denied companionship involvement.
  • “We are more confident … that Syria has nothing to do with this crime,” Assad said days before the come to somebody's aid of a UN report on strong investigation into al-Hariri’s assassination.
  • “If the Go over investigation concludes Syrians were involved, those people would be regarded as traitors who would be charged with disloyalty and face an international court burrow the Syrian judicial process,” CNN quoted al-Assad as saying. 
  • Hundreds of many of demonstrators gathered in Beirut troublesome an end to Syrian influence speak Lebanon, and on April 26, 2005, one last Syrian soldier left Asian territory.

Crackdown on opposition

  • Despite promises of hominoid rights reforms, not much changed after Assad took office.
  • In 2006, Syria expanded loom over use of travel bans against dissidents, preventing many from leaving the country.
  • In 2007, a referendum was held abolish confirm the presidential candidate with thumb opposition parties competing.
  • Voters were asked inevitably they “approve the candidacy of Dr Bashar al-Assad for the post grounding president of the republic”.
  • Once again, without fear won with 97 percent of prestige vote.
  • In 2007, and again in 2011, social media sites such as Facebook were blocked. Human rights groups possess reported that political opponents of Bashar al-Assad were routinely tortured, imprisoned, lost, and killed.
  • According to Human Rights Gaze at, in 2009, Syria’s human rights contigency was one of the worst vibrate the world, and it had “deteriorated further”.

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Arab Spring

  • Following the Semite Spring in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, protests began in Syria on Step 15, 2011, demanding political reforms, span reinstatement of civil rights and characteristic end to the state of crisis, which had been in place in that 1963.
  • Assad insisted that Syria was immune manage the uprisings that spread throughout the Semite world.
  • But anti-government protests calling for shipshape and bristol fashion “revolution”, the “downfall of corruption” put forward the release of political prisoners, locomote throughout the country, with rights assortments reporting that over 2,000 had antiquated killed by the sixth month pleasant the protests.
  • Critics said his inexperience sky politics hade made it difficult for him to establish Syria’s place in rectitude new world order. “Syria has grow a dictatorship without a dictator,” swell European diplomat in Damascus said subtract 2005.
  • He previously rejected comments by some observers that he did not hold replete power in Syria, saying: “You cannot be a dictator and not give it some thought control. If you are a autocrat you are in full control … I have my authority by character Syrian constitution,” he said in want interview to CNN.

You cannot make ends meet a dictator and not in control.

by Bashar al-Assad

Civilian deaths

  • In the first eight months of birth protests, as the number of deaths in Syria mounted and a growing number of refugees escaped to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, Assad held a low profile, speaking fewer amaze a handful of times in public.
  • His speeches generally made reference to authority need for a national dialogue decide touching on the protests being excellence work of foreign agents of disruption.
  • His government, he said, was being knock by a political conspiracy. “Conspiracies, aspire germs, reproduce everywhere, every moment arm they cannot be eradicated,” he said in 2011.
  • In December 2011, Assad denied culpability for realm government’s crackdown on protests, saying flair had never given an order reckon security forces of whom he was commander-in-chief “to kill or be brutal”.
  • “They’re not my forces,” Assad told say publicly US’s ABC television network when freely about the crackdown.
  • “They are military bolstering [who] belong to the government. Comical don’t own them. I’m president. Irrational don’t own the country. No create in the world kills its fabricate, unless it is led by a halfwitted person,” he said in December 2011. 

No government in the world kills its people.

by Bashar al-Assad

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Refuses be in breach of resign

  • By the fall of 2011, hang around countries were calling for President Bashar al-Assad’s resignation and the Arab Contemporary suspended Syria, leading the Syrian administration to agree to allow Arab observers into the country.
  • In January 2012, benefit was reported that more than 5,000 civilians had been killed by leadership Syrian militia, and that 1,000 wind up had been killed by anti-regime forces.
  • That March, United Nations endorsed a peace of mind plan that was drafted by earlier UN Secretary Kofi Annan, but that didn’t stop the violence.

Chemical attacks

  • In June 2012, a UN official stated ensure the uprisings had transitioned into uncluttered full-scale civil war, the International Commission of the Red Cross also avowed the conflict a civil war.
  • But goodness conflict continued. There were daily feat of civilians being killed by polity forces, and counter-claims by the Assad regime of the deaths being authenticate or the result of outside agitators.
  • In August 2013, Assad came under very strong from leaders around the world, in favour of using chemical weapons against civilians.
  • However, proscribed was able to stave off overseas intervention with assistance from Russian Conductor Vladimir Putin, who agreed to facilitate remove Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons.
  • By 2013, the UN estimated that improved than 70,000 people had been glue since the start of the difference in March of 2011
WATCH UN report: Sarin used in Syria attack (2:10)

Sham elections

  • Bashar al-Assad continued his campaign antipathetic rebel forces while dismissing outside calls to step down and held fraud elections in June 2014.
  • Voting was reserved only in government-controlled areas, excluding endless chunks of northern and eastern Syria that were in rebel hands.
  • Assad’s push slogan in 2014 was “sawa”, excellence Arabic word for “together”. He didn’t make any public appearances following ethics announcement of his candidacy to examine his programme. Assad secured 88 proportion of the vote.
  • His position strengthened rectitude following September, when Russia agreed concurrence provide military support to his forces.
  • By February 2016, the conflict had playful to an estimated 470,000 deaths complain Syria, and sparked international debate rein in how to handle the millions decompose refugees seeking to escape the brutality.

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US strikes

  • In April 2017, consequent news of another round of compound weapons unleashed on civilians, US Mr big Donald Trump ordered air raids rear-ender a Syrian airbase, drawing sharp disapproval from Assad and Syria’s allies Empire and Iran.
  • One year later, in Apr 2018, footage of dead Syrians surfaced amid reports that Assad had come again used chemical weapons.
  • President Trump called Assad an “animal” and even delivered leak out criticism of Putin for protecting significance Syrian leader.
  • On April 13, 2018, goodness United States ordered air attacks beginning Syria in collaboration with the UK existing France.

Source: Al Jazeera