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Bashar al-Assad

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Bashar al-Assad
بشار الأسد
President of Syria
Assumed office
17 July 2000
Prime MinisterMuhammad Mustafa Mero
Muhammad Naji al-Otari
Adel Safar
Vice PresidentFarouk al-Sharaa
Najah al-Attar
Preceded byAbdul Halim Khaddam (Acting)
Leader of the Ba'ath Party
Assumed office
10 June 2000
Preceded byHafez al-Assad
Personal details
Born (1965-09-11) 11 September 1965 (age 58)
Damascus, Syria
Political partyBa'ath Party
SpouseAsma al-Akhras
Alma materDamascus University
ProfessionOphthalmologist
WebsiteThe President

Bashar al-Assad (Arabic: بشار حافظ الأسد, Baššār al-ʾAsad; born 11 September 1965) is the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. He became president in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for 29 years.

Early life, education and career

Assad family in the early 1970s, Bashar al-Assad on the far left

Bashar al-Assad was born in Damascus, on 11 September 1965, the son of Aniseh (née Makhluf) and Hafez al-Assad. Initially Bashar had few political aspirations. His father had been grooming Bashar's older brother, Basil al-Assad, to be the future president. Bashar studied ophthalmology at Damascus University 1988 and arrived in London in 1992 to continue his studies. He was recalled in 1994 to join the Syrian army after Basil's death in an automobile accident. Bashar entered the military academy at Homs, north of Damascus, following the death of Basil, and was propelled through the ranks to become a colonel in January 1999. The accident made Bashar his father's new heir apparent. When the elder Assad died in 2000, Bashar was appointed leader of the Baath-Party and the Army and was elected president unopposed with what the regime claimed to be a massive popular support (97.2% of the votes), after the Majlis Al Sha'ab (Parliament) swiftly voted to lower the minimum age for candidates from 40 to 34 (Assad's age when he was elected). On 27 May 2007 Bashar was approved president for another seven-year term, with the official result of 97.6% of the votes in a referendum without another candidate.

Assad stands about 189 cm (6 ft 2 in). He speaks English fluently and also speaks casual conversational French, having studied at the Franco-Arab al-Hurriyah school in Damascus, before going on to medical school at the University of Damascus Faculty of Medicine. He completed his ophthalmology residency training in Tishreen Military Hospital of Damascus and subsequently went on to receive subspecialty training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital in London.[2] He could not finish his formal training due to the unexpected death of his brother. Bashar was a staff colonel in the Syrian military.[3]

In December 2000, Assad married Asma Assad, née Akhras,[4] a Syrian from Acton (west London) whom he met in the United Kingdom, where she was born and raised.[5][6] On 3 December 2001, they became the parents of their first-born child, named Hafez after his late grandfather. Zein was born on 5 November 2003, and Karim on 16 December 2004.

Presidency

Bashar and his wife Asma al-Assad in Moscow

In his domestic policy, he has been criticized for a disregard for human rights, economic lapses, and corruption.[citation needed] In his foreign policy, Al-Assad is an outspoken critic of the United States and Israel.[7] The Ba'ath Party remains in control of the parliament, and is constitutionally the "leading party" of the state. Until he became president, Bashar al-Assad was not greatly involved in politics; his only public role was head of the Syrian Computer Society, which introduced the Internet to Syria in 2001. Al-Assad was confirmed as president by an unopposed referendum in 2000. He was expected to take a more liberal approach than his father. In an interview he stated that he saw democracy in Syria as 'a tool to a better life' but then argued that it would take time for democracy to come about and that it could not be rushed.[8] Politically and economically, Syrian life has changed only slightly since 2000. Immediately after he took office a reform movement made cautious advances during the Damascus Spring, which led al-Assad to shut down Mezzeh prison and release hundreds of political prisoners. However, security crackdowns commenced again within the year.[9][10]

Economy

Billboard with portrait of Assad and the text God protects Syria on the old city wall of Damascus 2006
See also: Economy of Syria

Economic liberalization in Syria has been limited with industry still heavily state-controlled. However some changes have occurred including the introduction of private banking and the encouragement of foreign involvement, most notably in the oil sector. The need for a diversification of the economy has been pressed for by some[11] as it has been predicted that Syria will change from exporting to having to import oil by 2015. The reliance upon oil is reflected by manufacturing exports representing only 3.1 per cent of Syria’s GDP.[12] These issues are especially relevant as Syria’s population is predicted to more than double to over 34 million by 2050.[13] There have been mild economic sanctions (the Syria Accountability Act) applied by the United States which further complicate the situation. Of major importance are the negotiations for a free trade association agreement with the European Union.

Politics of Syria

Arab League Member State of the Arab League

Constitution
Human rights
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Subdivisions
Elections
Foreign relations

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Human rights

See also: Human rights in Syria

A 2007 law required internet cafes to record all the comments users post on chat forums.[14] Websites such as Wikipedia Arabic, YouTube and Facebook were blocked intermittently between 2008 and February 2011.[15][16][17]

Human Rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have detailed how Bashar's regime and secret police routinely torture, imprison, and kill political opponents, and those who speak out against the regime.[18][19]

Since 2006 it expanded the use of travel bans against dissidents, a practice that is illegal under international law. Syria is the worst offender among Arab states.[20]

In an interview with ABC News in 2007[8] he stated: "We don't have such [things as] political prisoners," yet the New York Times reported the arrest of 30 political prisoners in Syria in December 2007.[21]

Foreign Policy magazine analyzed his position in the wake of the 2011 protests:[22]

During its decades of rule, moreover, the Assad family developed a strong political safety net by firmly integrating the military into the regime. In 1970, Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, seized power after rising through the ranks of the Syrian armed forces, during which time he established a network of loyal Alawites by installing them in key posts. In fact, the military, ruling elite, and ruthless secret police are so intertwined that it is now impossible to separate the Assad regime from the security establishment. Bashar al-Assad’s threat to use force against protesters would be more plausible than Tunisia’s or Egypt’s were. So, unlike in Tunisia and Egypt, where a professionally trained military tended to play an independent role, the regime and its loyal forces have been able to deter all but the most resolute and fearless oppositional activists. In this respect, the situation in Syria is to a certain degree comparable to Saddam Hussein’s strong Sunni minority rule in Iraq.

Foreign relations

Assad with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev whilst on a visit to Sochi in August 2008.

Assad's first official foreign trip was to meet Jacques Chirac in France, who had warm relations with him. The Middle Eastern Quarterly noted that "As in the case of Iraq, there are lingering questions of Syrian payments to French politicians. Many French politicians join associations and charitable boards both for financial and political gain. The board of the L'Association d'Amitié France-Syrie (France-Syria Friendship Association) boasts among its members former prime minister Raymond Barre, former secretary of state Claude Cheysson, and 2007 presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy".[23]

The United States, European Union, the March 14 Alliance, Israel, and France accuse Assad of logistically supporting militant groups aimed at Israel and any opposing member to his government. These include most political parties other than Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.[24] According to MEMRI, Assad claimed the United States could benefit from the Syrian experience in fighting organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood at the Hama Massacre.[25]

Assad opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite a long-standing animosity between the Syrian and Iraqi governments. Assad used Syria's seat in one of rotating positions on the United Nations Security Council to try to prevent the invasion of Iraq.[26] Following the Iraq invasion by coalition forces, Assad was accused of supporting the Iraqi insurgency. A US general accused him of providing funding, logistics, and training to Iraqi and foreign Muslims to launch attacks against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.[27]

The February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the accusation of Syrian involvement and support for anti-Israeli groups, helped precipitate a crisis in relations with the United States. Assad was criticized for Syria's presence in Lebanon which ended in 2005, and the US put Syria under sanctions partly because of this. At Pope John Paul II's funeral in 2005, Assad shook hands with the Israeli president Moshe Katsav.

In the Arab world, Assad mended relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization but relations with many Arab states, in particular Saudi Arabia, have been deteriorating. This is in part due to Assad's continued intervention in Lebanon and his alliance with Iran. Around the time of the 2008 South Ossetia war, Assad made an official visit to Russia. In an interview with the Russian TV channel Vesti, he asserted that one cannot separate the events in the Caucasus from the US presence in Iraq, which he condemned as a direct threat to [Syria's] security."

After the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, many media outlets accused Syria of being involved.[citation needed] as Hariri was anti-Syrian. However, Assad argued that Syria's gradual withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, beginning in 2000, was precipitated as a result of the event and ended on may 2005.[28]

In 2011, Assad told the Wall Street Journal that he considered himself "anti-Israel" and "anti-West", and that because of these policies he was not in danger of being overthrown.[7]

Involvement in Lebanon

Despite gaining re-election in 2007, al-Assad’s position was considered by some to have been weakened by the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon following the "Cedar Revolution" in 2005. There has also been pressure from the US concerning claims that Syria is linked to terrorist networks, exacerbated by Syrian condemnation of the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah military leader, in Damascus in 2008. Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majeed stated that, "Syria, which condemns this cowardly terrorist act, expresses condolences to the martyr family and to the Lebanese people.”[29]

Arab-Israeli conflict

File:Bessar Esad Halep.jpg
A poster of Bashar al-Assad, Aleppo, Abbarah square

In a speech about the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict in August 2006, Bashar al-Assad said that Hezbollah had "hoisted the banner of victory," hailing its actions as a "successful resistance."[30] He claimed that Arab resistance was growing stronger, and warned Israel that "your warplanes, rockets, and your atomic bomb will not protect you in the future." He called Israel an enemy with whom no peace could be achieved as long as they and their allies (especially the U.S.) support the practice of preemptive war. In the same speech, he also called Arab leaders that have criticized Hezbollah "half-men."

In April 2008, Assad told a Qatari newspaper that Syria and Israel had been discussing a peace treaty for a year, with Turkey as a go-between. This was confirmed in May 2008, by a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. As well as a peace treaty, the future of the Golan Heights is being discussed. Assad was quoted in The Guardian as telling the Qatari paper:

. . . there would be no direct negotiations with Israel until a new US president takes office. The US was the only party qualified to sponsor any direct talks, [Assad] told the paper, but added that the Bush administration "does not have the vision or will for the peace process. It does not have anything."[31]

According to leaked American cables, Bashar al Assad called Hamas an "uninvited guest" and said "If you want me to be effective and active, I have to have a relationship with all parties. Hamas is Muslim Brotherhood, but we have to deal with the reality of their presence.", comparing Hamas to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood which was crushed by his father Hafez al Assad. He then claimed Hamas would disappear if peace was brought to the Middle East.[32][33]

Assad has indicated that the peace treaty that he envisions would not be the same kind of peace treaty Israel has with Egypt where there is a legal border crossing and open trade. In a 2006 interview with Charlie Rose, Assad said “There is a big difference between talking about a peace treaty and peace. A peace treaty is like a permanent ceasefire. There’s no war, maybe you have an embassy, but you actually won’t have trade, you won’t have normal relations because people will not be sympathetic to this relation as long as they are sympathetic with the Palestinians: half a million who live in Syria and half a million in Lebanon and another few millions in other Arab countries.”[34]

During the visit of Pope John Paul II to Syria in 2001, Bashar al-Assad requested an apology to Muslims for the medieval Crusades and criticized Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Comparing their suffering to that believed to have been endured by Jesus Christ in Palestine, Assad claimed that the Jews "tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad."[35][36][37][38][39] Responding to claims that his comment was antisemitic, Assad said that whereas Judaism is a racially heterogeneous religion, the Syrian people are the core of the Semitic race and therefore are opposed to the term antisemitism. When offered to retract his comment implying that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' suffering, Assad replied, "As always, these are historical facts that we cannot deny," and stressed that his remarks were not anti-Jewish.[40] On the other hand, in February 2011 Bashar backed an initiative to fund the restoration of 10 synagogues in Syria, which had a Jewish community numbering 30,000 in 1947 but has only 200 Jews today.[41]

2011 uprising

Main article: 2011 Syrian uprising

Protests in Syria started on 26 January and were influenced by other protests in the region. Protesters have been calling for political reforms and the reinstatement of civil rights, as well as an end to the state of emergency which has been in place since 1963.[42] One attempt at a "day of rage" was set for 4-5 February, though it ended up uneventful.[43][44] Protests on 18-19 March were the largest to take place in Syria for decades and Syrian authorities have responded with violence against its protesting citizens.

On 18 May 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an Executive order putting into effect sanctions against Bashar Assad in an effort to pressure his regime "to end its use of violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system that protects the rights of the Syrian people."[45] The sanctions effectively freeze any of the Syrian President's assets either in the United States proper or within U.S. jurisdiction.[46] On May 23, 2011 EU Foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add Mr Assad and nine other officials to a list affected by travel bans and asset freezes.[47] On May 24, 2011 Canada imposed sanctions on Syria leaders, one of which is Assad.[48]

On 20 June 2011, in a speech lasting nearly an hour, in response to the demands of protesters and foreign pressure, al-Assad promised a "national dialogue" involving movement toward reform, new pariliamentary elections, and greater freedoms. He also urged refugees to return home from Turkey, while assuring them amnesty and blaming all unrest on a small number of "saboteurs".[49]

See also

References

  1. ^ al-Assad, Bashar (2010). "Politics: Viewpoint: President Bashar Al Assad". The Report: Syria 2010. Oxford Business Group. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-1907065163. If we have been used to blaming others for the denegration of Muslims, we should carry out an honest critique of ourselves. In taking stock of ourselves we will discover that we are more responsible than anyone for the stereotypes that are associated with Islam and Muslims...If our religion is treated with abuse and contempt, it is because we have surrendered our decisions and image in the world to others who shape the external perception of our faith...How can we defend our religion while we are unable to defend our opinion or homeland?
  2. ^ Beeston, Richard; Blanford, Nick (22 October 2005). "We are going to send him on a trip Bye bye Hariri Rot in hell". The Times. London. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Transcript of Al assad". Transcripts.cnn.com. 2000-06-10. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  4. ^ "The road to Damascus (all the way from Acton)". BBC News. 31 October 2001. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ^ "Syria factfile: Key figures". The Daily Telegraph. London. 24 February 2003. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  6. ^ http://www.vogue.com/vogue-daily/article/asma-al-assad-a-rose-in-the-desert/
  7. ^ a b Syria's Assad: Regime strong because of my anti-Israel stance
  8. ^ a b "Syrian President speaks about democracy in Syria". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  9. ^ http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/02/201129103121562395.html
  10. ^ Ghadry, Farid N. (Winter 2005). "Syrian Reform: What Lies Beneath". The Middle East Quarterly.
  11. ^ "Syria's economy requires broader reforms to reach and sustain higher growth" (in Template:Fr icon). 1stjordan.net. Retrieved 2010-08-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  12. ^ "meepas Syria country profile–Economic snapshot". Meepas.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  13. ^ "Syria - Population Reference Bureau". Prb.org. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  14. ^ "Bashar Al-Assad, President, Syria". Reporters Without Borders.
  15. ^ "Red lines that cannot be crossed - The authorities don't want you to read or see too much". The Economist. 2008-07-24.
  16. ^ Syria Restores Access to Facebook and YouTube, Jennifer Preston, The New York Times, 9 February 2011
  17. ^ Internet Enemies: Syria, Reporters Without Borders
  18. ^ Wasted Decade Human Rights in Syria during Bashar al-Asad’s First Ten Years in PowerHuman Rights Watch, July 16, 2010
  19. ^ 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Syria, UNHCR, 8 April 2011
  20. ^ "How Syria controls its dissidents - Banning travel". The Economist. 2010-09-30.
  21. ^ Cambanis, Thanassis (14 December 2007). "Challenged, Syria Extends Crackdown on Dissent". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  22. ^ Michael Bröning (2011-03-07). "The Sturdy House That Assad Built". The Foreign Policy.
  23. ^ "The Chirac Doctrine". Middle East Quarterly. Fall 2005.
  24. ^ "Assad sets conference conditions". BBC News. 1 October 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  25. ^ "Assad claims United States could benefit from syrian counterterrorism techniques". Memri.org. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  26. ^ "Iraq war illegal, says Annan". BBC News. 16 September 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  27. ^ Post Store (2004-12-17). "General: Iraqi Insurgents Directed From Syria". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  28. ^ Rose, Charlie (2006-03-27). Charlie Rose (TV-Series). United States: WNET.
  29. ^ "Bomb kills top Hezbollah leader". BBC News. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  30. ^ "Lebanon: the war after the war". openDemocracy. 2006-10-11. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  31. ^ Walker, Peter (2008-05-21). "Olmert confirms peace talks with Syria". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-05-21. Israel and Syria are holding indirect peace talks, with Turkey acting as a mediator... {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ Roee Nahmias (Roee Nahmias). "Assad: Iran won't attack Israel with nukes". ynetnews.com. Retrieved December 12, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ Meris Lutz (December 2, 2010). "Syria's Assad seems to suggest backing for Hamas negotiable, leaked cables say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  34. ^ "March 27th, 2006 Interview". Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  35. ^ "Pope, in Damascus, Reaches Out for Unity With Mosque Visit". The Economist. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 1 June 2011. The pope's pilgrimage in the steps of St Paul was widely seen as a success, even if it did not elicit an apology to the Muslim world for the medieval crusades. Syria's president, Bashar Assad, basked in international praise for his religious tolerance. But, notably, this tolerance was not extended to Judaism. Welcoming John Paul, Mr Assad compared the suffering of the Palestinians to that of Jesus Christ. The Jews, he said, "tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad." The pope was taken on a detour to the town of Quneitra, flattened by the Israelis in their partial withdrawal from the Golan Heights, and called upon to bless the president's vision of a Christian-Islamic alliance to vanquish the common threat of colonising Jews.
  36. ^ "Polish experience shaped Pope's Jewish relations". CBC News. 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2011. The decision to beatify Pius IX, the pope who kidnapped a Jewish child in Bologna and who put Rome's Jews back in their ghetto, was one question mark. John Paul's silence in 2001 when Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said Jews had killed Christ and tried to kill Mohammad was another. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  37. ^ "Pope appeals for Mideast peace". CNN. Damascus. 5 May 2001. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  38. ^ Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 107th Congress, First Session. Government Printing Office. 2001. p. 7912. Retrieved 7 May 2011. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  39. ^ "ADL Urges World and Religious Leaders to Denounce Syrian President's Anti-Jewish Diatribe Delivered in Presence of the Pope". Anti-Defamation League. New York. 6 May 2001. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  40. ^ "'Scharon plant den Krieg'". Der Spiegel (in German). 9 July 2001. Retrieved 23 June 2011. Was soll denn das? Wir Araber sind doch selbst Semiten, als Nachfahren von Sem, einem der drei Söhne Noahs. Kein Mensch sollte gegen irgendeine Rasse eingestellt sein, gegen die Menschheit oder Teile von ihr. Wir in Syrien lehnen den Begriff Antisemitismus ab, weil dieser Begriff diskriminierend ist. Semiten sind eine Rasse, wir gehören nicht nur zu dieser Rasse, sondern sind ihr Kern. Das Judentum dagegen ist eine Religion, die allen Rassen zuzuordnen ist. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  41. ^ Derhally, Massoud A. (7 February 2011). "Jews in Damascus Restore Synagogues as Syria Tries to Foster Secular Image". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 May 2011. The project, which began in December, will be completed this month as part of a plan to restore 10 synagogues with the backing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and funding from Syrian Jews.
  42. ^ "Q&A: Syrian activist Suhair Atassi". Al Jazeera English. 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-02-13. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  43. ^ "'Day of rage' protest urged in Syria - World news - Mideast/N. Africa - msnbc.com". MSNBC. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  44. ^ ""Day of Rage" planned for Syria; protests scheduled for Feb 4-5 - aysor.am - Hot news from Armenia". aysor.am. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  45. ^ 18 May 2011. "Administration Takes Additional Steps to Hold the Government of Syria Accountable for Violent Repression Against the Syrian People". United States Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 18 May 2011. Today, President Obama signed an Executive Order (E.O.) imposing sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six other senior officials of the Government of Syria in an effort to increase pressure on the Government of Syria to end its use of violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system that protects the rights of the Syrian people.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  46. ^ Oweis, Khaled Yacoub (18 May 2011). "U.S. imposes sanctions on Syria's Assad". Reuters. Retrieved 18 May 2011. The U.S. move, announced by the Treasury Department, freezes any of the Syrian officials' assets that are in the United States or otherwise fall within U.S. jurisdiction and generally bars U.S. individuals and companies from dealing with them.
  47. ^ "Syria: EU imposes sanctions on President Assad". BBC News. 23 May 2011.
  48. ^ "Canada imposes sanctions on Syrian leaders". BBC News. 24 May 2011.
  49. ^ Speech of H.E. President Bashar al-Assad at DAMASCUS University on the sitaution in Syria, translated transcript, Sana, 20 June 2011

Further reading

  • Bashar Al-Assad (Major World Leaders) by Susan Muaddi Darraj, (June 2005, Chelsea House Publications) ISBN 0-7910-8262-8 for young adults
  • Syria Under Bashar Al-Asad: Modernisation and the Limits of Change by Volker Perthes, (2004, Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-856750-2 (Adelphi Papers #366)
  • Bashar's First Year: From Ophthalmology to a National Vision (Research Memorandum) by Yossi Baidatz, (2001, Washington Institute for Near East Policy) ISBN B0006RVLNM
  • Syria: Revolution From Above by Raymond Hinnebusch (Routledge; 1st edition, August 2002) ISBN 0-415-28568-2
  • Bashar al-Assad and John F. Kennedy, Forward Magazine (Syria) Article Author :Scott C. Davis (2008-05-18). "Bashar al-Assad and John F. Kennedy | Forward Magazine". Fw-magazine.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  • Assad: We too were not very happy with Annapolis, Forward Magazine (Syria) "Assad: We too were not very happy with Annapolis | Forward Magazine". Fw-magazine.com. 1967-06-04. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  • Seven years of Bashar al-Assad’s rule 2000-2007, Forward Magazine (Syria) [1]
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Preceded by Leader of the Ba'ath Party
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