Bashar al-Assad
Videos
Page
Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian politician who is the current and 19th president of Syria since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which nominally espouses a neo-Ba'athist ideology. His father and predecessor was General Hafiz al-Assad, whose presidency in 1971–2000 marked the transfiguration of Syria from a republican state into a de facto dynastic dictatorship, tightly controlled by an Alawite-dominated elite composed of the armed forces and the Mukhabarat, who are loyal to the al-Assad family.
Bashar in 2022
Bassel al-Assad, Bashar's older brother, died in 1994, paving the way for Bashar's future presidency.
Assad in 2004
The crime-scene in Beirut where Hariri and 21 others were killed in a terrorist attack in February 2005. The area was cordoned off to conduct an international investigation.
Syrian Armed Forces
Videos
Page
The Syrian Arab Armed Forces are the military forces of the Syrian Arab Republic. They consist of the Syrian Army, Syrian Air Force, Syrian Navy, Syrian Air Defense Force, and paramilitary forces, such as the National Defence Forces. According to the Constitution of Syria, the President of Syria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Minister of Defense holds the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed Forces.
A Syrian soldier manning a checkpoint near Damascus.
Bashar al-Assad (centre) alongside Syrian Defence Minister General Mustafa Tlass (right) and Military Chief of Staff Hasan Turkmani (left), both Ba'athist leaders. Military-Ba'ath party nexus constructed by Hafez al-Assad constitute the backbone of Assad government's support base.
A Syrian soldier aims a Type 56 assault rifle from his position in a foxhole during Operation Desert Shield. The soldier is wearing a Soviet-made Model ShMS nuclear-biological-chemical warfare mask.
Female Syrian soldiers with an MTs-116M rifle in Jobar, December 2015.