From eye doctor to dictator – the rise and fall of Assad’s presidency
Bashar al Assad’s downfall marks an end to more than half a century of family rule, as rebel forces turned the tide in a civil war he had embraced.
The authoritarian president ruled Syria for 24 years, five years short of his father’s time in power, but the plan was never for him to take over the dynasty.
Before his political career began to take shape, Assad was based in the UK, where he had an ophthalmology practice.
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A family tragedy would soon thrust him into the political fray – and his early days in Damascus stood in stark contrast to his exit.
Eye doctor and computer geek
Before Damascus, Assad was an eye doctor in London and his only official position in his home country was as head of the Syrian Computer Society.
In the UK capital, he met his future wife, Asma Akhras, a former investment banker at JPMorgan who grew up in Acton, west London.
She ditched her career for Assad after a trip together to Libya as a guest of then leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Bashar al Assad and his wife Asma in 2010. Pic: AP
In 1994, Assad’s older brother – and heir to the presidency – Bassel was killed in a car crash in Damascus.
Assad was promptly ordered back home, where he was put through military training and elevated his rank to colonel to establish his credentials for ruling.
But there was never any doubt he would take over. When his father Hafez al Assad died in 2000, parliament quickly lowered the presidential age from 40 to 34.
To top it off, his elevation was confirmed after a nationwide referendum pitted him as the only candidate.
Bashar al Assad at military training games in 2000. Pic: AP
Hopes for a young reformer
Assad began his presidency with promises to fight corruption and to open up the media. He inherited a dilapidated country and lacked support from his father’s loyalists.
Viewed as something of a geek, the lanky Assad constantly tried to prove himself despite his gentle demeanour, not least to his fearsome mother, whom the president’s wife also struggled to impress.
He had quickly freed political prisoners and allowed more open discourse. In the “Damascus Spring” – briefly sprung after his father’s death – salons for intellectuals emerged to discuss art, culture and politics.
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Bashar al Assad and his wife Asma greeted by Tony Blair outside 10 Downing Street in 2002. Pic: AP
But these were snuffed out after 1,000 intellectuals signed a public petition calling for multiparty democracy and greater freedoms in 2001.
He slowly lifted economic restrictions, let in foreign banks, made way for imports and empowered the private sector.
Syrian cities began to see shopping malls, new restaurants and consumer goods, while tourism rose.
Foreign policy blow
But abroad, he stuck to the line his father had set, based on an alliance with Iran and a policy of insisting on a full return of the Israel-annexed Golan Heights.
In 2004 the UN Security Council ordered Syria to end its long occupation of neighbouring Lebanon, leaving Assad with a choice: comply and ruin some of his father’s legacy, or ignore it.
He chose the former – this angered his family.
Syria soldiers pulling out of Lebanon in 2005. Pic: AP
Gradually, Assad started to believe the West was weak and believed the more he demonstrated strength, the more he would achieve.
In 2005, former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated, killed by a bomb while driving in Beirut. The Syrian government was blamed.
Syria was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and a pro-American government came to power instead.
Syrian civil war
A few years after going against his father’s legacy, Assad would draw on his brutal tactics when protests erupted against his rule in March 2011, during the Arab Spring.
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He had until that point denied the wave of Arab uprising would spread to Syria, and even emailed a joke mocking the Egyptian leader’s refusal to step down two days after his fall.
But reality soon bit, after protesters in the southern city of Daraa were shot dead by government forces, sparking nationwide unrest.
Full-blown civil war would break out, which would become the world’s largest refugee crisis, according to the UN.
More than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety, the body reports.
Atrocities
Since then, Assad’s rule has been dogged by widespread accusations of atrocities, including the use of chemical weapons such as sarin, chlorine, and mustard gas.
In 2013, a gas attack on rebel-held eastern Ghouta near Damascus killed scores of civilians.
There have also been widespread reports of rape, beheadings and torture.
Assad was propped up largely thanks to Russia – who stepped in to carry out decisive airstrikes in 2015 – and Iran, who both backed Syria militarily.
In 2020, Moscow backed a government offensive, which ended with a ceasefire with Turkey and froze most front lines.
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Assad held most territory and all main cities, appearing deeply entrenched, while rebels held the northwest and a Turkey-backed force stayed at a border strip.
Kurdish-led forces, meanwhile, controlled the northeast.
After government forces bombarded the northwest rebel-held region of Idlib in 2020 – killing civilians in the process – Assad had appeared to consolidate his iron-fist rule.
President Bashar al Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in July 2024. Pic: AP
The downfall
Few saw an end to his presidency in the near future, but just as Assad’s fortunes relied on Moscow and Tehran, so too was his fate tied to their geopolitical priorities.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lasting almost three years and Iran rocked by Israeli attacks on its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syrian government defences were exposed.
Rebel forces launched an attack on the northern city of Aleppo, which the government had held since 2016, and within days stormed through the country.
Assad had initially vowed to fight back, with the military claiming they were preparing a counter-offensive.
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Toppled Assad statue dragged through streets
But the insurgents continued to sweep their way to Damascus, where Assad had insisted he remained as recently as Saturday evening.
He has not been seen in the capital since rebels claimed full control and Russia has said he has left the country – adding he gave “instructions to transfer power peacefully”.
While Syrians took to the streets to chant for freedom and celebrated his downfall, what comes next for the country – and who governs it – remains shrouded in uncertainty.
World
At least 114 dead after Philippines typhoon, as state of emergency declared and more than 100 still missing
The Philippines has declared a state of emergency after a typhoon left at least 114 dead and 127 missing.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr issued the “state of national calamity” declaration after a meeting with disaster officials on Thursday.
It comes after Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall on Tuesday, striking the country’s central provinces. It is the deadliest natural disaster to hit the Philippines this year.
After reaching the country, the storm hit with sustained winds of 87mph and gusts of up to 121mph.
Authorities in Vietnam, meanwhile, are bracing for Kalmaegi’s approach. Forecasters warned that Ho Chi Minh City faces a heightened risk of severe flooding, as high tides would coincide with the expected heavy rainfall from the typhoon.
So far, the deaths recorded were mainly as a result of flooding in flash floods. The country’s civil defence office said that at least 71 people died in Cebu.
Cebu province was hit hard by the typhoon, with at least 71 dead. Pics: Reuters
Cebu, a province of more than 2.4 million people, was still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on 30 September, which left at least 79 people dead.
A state of calamity was previously declared there to allow authorities to disburse emergency funds more rapidly.
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Filipinos stranded on roofs amid Typhoon floods
The province’s governor Pamela Baricuatro told the Associated Press on Thursday: “We did everything we can for the typhoon but, you know, there are really some unexpected things like flash floods.”
Almost two million people were affected by the tropical cyclone, with more than 560,000 displaced and almost 450,000 evacuated to emergency shelters.
Cars swept away by floods brought by Typhoon Kalmaegi are left on a street in Cotcot, Liloan, Philippines. Pic: Reuters
Abandoned vehicles were also seen across Cotcot, in Liloan. Pic: Reuters
Six people who died as a result of the typhoon were killed when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday.
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The crew was on its way to provide humanitarian aid to provinces affected, the military said, without giving the cause of the crash.
The Philippines is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.
It is affected by around 20 typhoons and storms each year, is also often hit by earthquakes, and has more than a dozen active volcanoes.
World
Elon Musk: Why some are starting to question if the world’s richest man is still value for money
Elon Musk is already the world’s richest man, but today he could take a giant step towards becoming the world’s first trillionaire.
Shareholders at Tesla are voting on a pay deal for their chief executive that is unlike anything corporate America has ever seen.
The package would grant Musk, who already has a net worth of more than $400bn, around 425 million shares in the company.
That would net him about $1trn (£760bn) and, perhaps more importantly to Musk, it would tighten his grip on the company by raising his stake from 15% to almost 30%.
The board, which has been making its case to retail investors with a series of videos and digital ads, has a simple message: Tesla is at a turning point.
Musk onstage during an event for Tesla in Shanghai, China. Pic: Reuters
Yes, it wants to sell millions of cars, but it also wants to be a pioneer in robotaxis, AI-driven humanoid robots, and autonomous driving software. At this moment, it needs its visionary leader motivated and fully on board.
Musk has served his warning shot. Late last month, he wrote on X: “Tesla is worth more than all other automotive companies combined. Which of those CEOs would you like to run Tesla? It won’t be me.”
Not everyone is buying it, however.
With so much of his personal wealth tied up in Tesla, would Musk really walk away?
Musk poses after his company’s initial public offering at the NASDAQ market in New York on 29 June 2010. Pic: Reuters
Bad for the brand?
Others see his continued presence and rising influence as a risk. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, which owns 1.1% of the company (making it a top 10 shareholder), has already declared it will vote against the deal. It cited concerns about “the award’s size, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk”.
Several major US pension funds have followed suit. In an open letter published last month, they warned: “The board’s relentless pursuit of keeping its chief executive has damaged Tesla’s reputation.”
They also criticised the board for allowing Musk to pursue other ventures. They said he was overcommitted and distracted as a result. Signatories of that letter included the state treasurers of Nevada, New Mexico, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Colorado, and the comptrollers of Maryland and New York City.
All of them Democrats. Republicans have been more favourable. There is a political slant to this.
The signatories’ concerns with his “other ventures” no doubt include the time Musk spent dabbling in right-wing politics with the Republican inner circle. That made him a polarising figure and, to an extent, Tesla too.
Elon Musk, who’s been close to Donald Trump, boards Air Force One in New Jersey. Pic: Reuters
Pay packet dwarfs rivals
Combine this with a mixed sales performance and a volatile share price, and some are wondering whether the carmaker has lost its way under his leadership.
Irrespective of performance, for some, the existence of billionaires – let alone trillionaires – can never be justified. Some may also ask why Musk is worth so much more than the leaders of Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft, or Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation.
Nvidia‘s chief executive, Jensen Huang, received $49.9m (£37.9m) this fiscal year. So, how has Tesla come up with these numbers? Why is Musk’s pay so out of kilter with the benchmark? Does the company have a corporate governance problem?
The courts have suggested it might. Last year, a Delaware court took the view that Tesla’s board members, which include Musk’s brother Kimbal, were not fully independent when agreeing to a $56bn (£42.6bn) pay packet back in 2017.
Jensen Huang has defended the AI sector. Pic: Reuters
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The Delaware Supreme Court is now reviewing the case. It is a reminder that even if Musk meets his targets, a similar fate could befall the current package.
The Tesla board is holding firm, however. Robyn Denholm, the company’s chair, told The New York Times: “He doesn’t get any compensation if he doesn’t deliver,” adding that Musk “does things that further humankind”.
Tesla’s valuation is tied up in its promise to deliver revolutionary AI and robotics products that will change the world. Those ambitions, which include robots that can look after children, are lofty. Some would call them unrealistic, but the board is adamant that if they are to become a reality, only Musk can make it happen.
Under the deal, Musk would receive no salary or cash bonus. Instead, he would collect shares as Tesla’s value grows. To unlock the full package, he would have to increase the current market valuation six times to $8.5trn (£6.47trn). For context, that’s almost twice that of Nvidia.
There are other hurdles. The company would have to sell 20 million additional electric vehicles, achieve 10 million subscriptions to its self-driving software on average over three months, deploy one million robotaxis on average over the same period, sell one million AI-powered robots, and boost adjusted earnings 24-fold to $400bn (£304bn).
They are ambitious targets, but Musk has defied the sceptics before.
A driver has knocked down several people on the French island of Ile d’Oleron.
Two people are in intensive care following the incident and a man has been arrested, French interior minister Laurent Nunez said.
Several others were injured after the motorist struck pedestrians and cyclists, he added.
Thibault Brechkoff, the mayor of Dolus-d’Oleron, told BFMTV the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for God is Greatest) when he was detained.
Arnaud Laraize, the public prosecutor in La Rochelle, told the Sud Ouest newspaper the 35-year-old suspect “resisted arrest” and was “subdued using a stun gun”.
He said the suspect was known for minor offences such as theft, adding he was not on a list of people considered a threat to national security.
Pedestrians and cyclists were hit on a road between Dolus d’Oleron and Saint-Pierre d’Oleron, he added.
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Police were alerted, with the first calls made at around 9am, according to French media reports.
Mr Nunez said in a post on X that he was heading to the scene at the request of the French prime minister.
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