Over the weekend, Syrian President Bashar Assad escaped to Russia after struggling for almost 14 years to maintain control in the midst of a civil war that attracted involvement from international and regional forces.
But the Assad people came to know through the news of war in Syria was not who some expected when he came to power.
Rise to Power
His father, Hafez Assad, had initially intended for Bashar’s older brother Basil to succeed him. However, Basil tragically died in a car accident in Damascus in 1994. Bashar, who was then practicing ophthalmology in London, was called back and went through military training. He was promoted to the rank of colonel to prepare him for future leadership in Syria.
Hafez governed Syria for close to three decades, implementing a centralized economy modeled after the Soviet system. He fostered a partnership with the Shiite clerical regime in Iran, solidified Syrian control over Lebanon, and established connections with Palestinian and Lebanese militant factions.
Syria’s First Lady Asma al-Assad takes part in a graduation ceremony of future teachers of a Syrian Organisation for Persons with Disabilities, in Damascus on December 3, 2018. (LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)
The published emails also reportedly showed she also bought a pair of $7,000 shoes with crystal-encrusted heels and had the goods shipped to Dubai to get around sanctions.
The couple’s ultra-modern presidential mansion – commissioned in 1979 and designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange – is thought to have cost $1 billion.
In 1989, the Washington Post reported that a single room was fitted with 125,000 Italian marble tiles at a cost of $85 per tile. The total cost spent on a single room was about $10.6 million.
On the same day her husband is believed to have dropped sarin gas on civilians in Khan Sheikhoun, Asma posted a photo of herself wearing a chic polka-dotted dress, seemingly deep in thought and smiling.
Asma’s social media posts depicted her as a humanitarian, adorned with photos of the first lady reading to children and embracing the family of a Syrian who was killed in the nation’s civil war – all with the affectionate hashtag #WeLoveYouAsma.
The photos are a stark contrast to the ones on news channels that showed Syrian children lying dead in the streets after choking on poison gas that the U.S. and its allies said was unleashed by her dictator husband.
In May, Syrian officials announced that Asma had been diagnosed with leukemia, forcing her to temporarily withdraw from public life.
Bashar’s office released a statement at the time, saying Asma was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and will “adhere to a specialized treatment protocol that includes stringent infection prevention measures.
Acute myeloid leukemia is an aggressive cancer of the bone marrow and the blood.
Asma was previously been treated for breast cancer.
Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
