President Bashar Assad and his father, Hafez Assad, combined to rule Syria for more than 50 years, always with an iron fist that crushed dissent and relied on the country's feared security forces.
In this photo provided by Saudi Press Agency, SPA, Syrian President Bashar Assad listens during the Arab summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 19, 2023.
With considerable help from Russia and Iran, Assad clung to power and held the major cities in a war where the fighting had largely subsided in recent years. But he never re-established control over all of Syria, and the remaining areas under his rule crumbled swiftly when as rebels launched a surprise offensive on Nov. 27.
In a defining moment of his rule, Hafez Assad's security forces killed an estimated 20,000 people in the city of Hama in 1982 as they crushed an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group. The brutal crackdown extinguished the rebellion and also served as a warning to anyone else who dared challenge his authority.
Assad did introduce limited economic reforms. Syrians were given greater access to the Internet. Other cosmetic changes followed.
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