Where is bashar assads family

Entire regions are lost from government control. The tools are the same: repression, rejection of compromise, and brutal bloodshed. While the anniversary has been marked with fanfare in previous years, it has been a more subdued celebration during the war. After his takeover, Hafez Assad consolidated power. He brought into key positions members of his Alawite sect, a minority in Sunni-majority Syria, and established a Soviet-style single-party police state.

He turned Syria into a Middle East powerhouse. In the Arab world, he gained respect for his uncompromising position on the Golan Heights, the strategic high ground lost to Israel in the war. He engaged in US -mediated peace talks, sometimes appearing to soften, only to frustrate the Americans by pulling back and asking for more territory.

Clinton was referring to the massacre in Hama, where security forces killed thousands to crush a Muslim Brotherhood uprising. The massacre, one of the most notorious in the modern Middle East, left hatreds that fanned the flames of another uprising against his son years later.

Unlike his father, critics say he repeatedly squandered opportunities and went too far. First welcomed as a reformer and modernizer, Bashar, a British-trained eye doctor, opened the country and allowed political debates. He quickly clamped back down, faced with challenges and a rapidly changing world, beginning with the September 11 attacks in America.

He opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, worried he would be next. He let foreign fighters enter Iraq from his territory, fuelling an insurgency against the US occupation and enraging the Americans.

Like his father, Bashar Assad elevated family to insulate his power — a younger, more modern generation, but one seen by many Syrians as more rapacious in amassing wealth.

As the economy tumbles, average Assad supporters are beginning to wonder if their sacrifices have been worth it. At the end of the war, they expected to reap some material profit—more jobs, promotions, or preferential treatment in government-awarded business contracts.

Instead, the bankrupt government has left them poorer and hungry. Barabandi, the former Syrian diplomat, said that the Alawites are flabbergasted at the Makhlouf-Bashar saga. Several Syrian experts told Foreign Policy that there is no doubt that Bashar al-Assad is losing support among Alawites.

It is no secret that Ribal and Douraid al-Assad wished that their father, Rifaat, and not Bashar, had succeeded Hafez. Ribal, however, is young and admits he would like to be active in Syrian politics.

The other family that has been itching to make a comeback is that of Mustafa Tlass, long-time regime loyalists who defected during the uprising. Now based in Paris, Manaf has suggested in Russian media that there are alternatives to Bashar if Russia was interested in backing them. For now, Russia seems more interested in controlling rather than replacing Bashar al-Assad. Going forward, he will find it harder to control the country—but it will be easier than ever for Russia to control him.

Twitter: anchalvohra. Turkey and Russia are using desperate mercenaries from the last war to fight in the next one. Shusha was the key to the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. Argument An expert's point of view on a current event.

June 15, , PM. Syrian in Libya Turkey and Russia are using desperate mercenaries from the last war to fight in the next one. Argument Anchal Vohra. Next, Makhlouf was stripped of his shares in the mobile network Syriatel — one of the few cash cows left in an economy ravaged by sanctions, a collapse in neighbouring Lebanon, a plunging exchange rate and soaring inflation.

The consortium he had established as the biggest investment vehicle in Syria was also taken off line. The US and EU describe the poll as illegitimate, because it does not include all of Syrian society — much of north is not under central government control — and does not abide by UN terms aimed at ending the conflict.

Anisa was a hardliner. She insisted on repressing the protesters in Four Syrian businessmen who spoke to the Guardian said they had been extorted in recent months by Syrian officials, who had arrived at their office claiming fees were outstanding on imports or inventories.

It was a shakedown plain and simple. They are broke and are trying to recoup money wherever they can.