Bashar al-Assad never expected to be a head of state. The second son of President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar was studying ophthalmology in London when his older brother and heir apparent Basil was killed in a car accident. Bashar was immediately enrolled in the Homs military academy, north of Damascus, and groomed for the highest office. He came into power in 2000 after the death of his father.
[1] Alawite, a sect of Shia Islam.
Father: Hafez al-Assad (President of Syria, d. 2000)
Mother: Anisa Makhlouf
Brother: Basil al-Assad (d. 1994 car crash)
Brother: Shabbih Maher
Sister: Bushra
Wife: Asma al-Assad (m. Dec-2000)
Son: Hafez (b. 3-Dec-2001)
Daughter: Zein (b. 5-Nov-2003)
Son: Karim (b. 16-Dec-2004)
Medical School: (1988)
Medical School: Ophthalmology, Tishrin Military Hospital, Damascus (1992)
University: Homs Military Academy, Homs, Syria (1994)
President of Syria 17-Jul-2000 to present
Audience with the Pope 2001
Traveled to the USSR 24-Jan-2005
Syrian Ancestry
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