Inside Bashar al-Assad's rise to Syrian president: From London eye doctor to tyrant after tragedy put him first in line to inherit throne as murderous dictator

The dramatic downfall of Syria's iron-fisted leader Bashar al-Assad marks an end to over 50 years of his family's brutal rule. Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad pose during a visit to the Great Wall of China at Badaling on June 22, 2004 For years Asma was the face of female liberation in the Middle East; with her successful career in banking and her secular British upbringing The pair married in Syria in the same year Assad took over control of the county - following the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who died aged 69 A picture believed to be showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wearing only speedos is taken by Rebels following the capture of his palace in Aleppo The images of Assad wearing speedos has generated ridicule on social media The optimism for reform After the death of his father, Assad was 10 days later appointed secretary-general of the ruling Ba'ath Party, and two days after that, the party congress nominated him as its candidate for the presidency. Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Assad during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 24, 2024 Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami welcomes Assad at the Saad Abad palace in Tehran on July 4, 2004 Syrian President Assad talks to hisTunisian counterpart Zine El Abidine Ben Ali at the opening session of the Arab Summit in Damascus on March 29, 2008 Foreign policy Abroad, Assad maintained his father's hard-line stance in Syria's decades-long conflict with Israel - insisting on a full return of the Israel-annexed Golan Heights. A giant portrait of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad sets on a building, as empty streets seen in Damascus, Syria Displaced Syrian Kurds ride vehicles loaded with belongings on the Aleppo-Raqqa highway as they flee areas on the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo which were formerly controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, after they were seized by Islamist-led rebels on December 2, 2024 Syrians in Lebanon flock to the Masnaa Border between Lebanon and Syria to return home Assad's atrocities In 2013, UN weapons inspectors returned 'overwhelming and indisputable' evidence of the use of nerve gas in Syria. Residents in Hama set ablaze a large banner bearing a picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad hanging on the facade of a municipal building Rebel fighters stand on a military vehicle in Homs countryside, after Syrian rebels pressed their lightning advance on Saturday An opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus on December 8 People kick a poster depicting Syrian President al-Assad after Syria's army command notified officers that his 24-year authoritarian rule has ended