A family picture dated 1985 shows Syria's late president Hafez al-Assad and his wife Anissah Makhlouf (seated) and, behind them, from R to L their five children: Bushra, the late Majd, the late Bassel (1962-94), deposted president Bashar, and the youngest son, Maher. AFP
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad arrives at the Arab World Institute in Paris on July 17, 1998 during a three-day official visit to France.
French President Jacques Chirac (R) gestures to Bashar al-Assad, son of the Syria's president Hafez al-Assad, during their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 7, 1999. AFP
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) waves to supporters outside the parliament in Damascus on July 17, 2000. AFP
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and the vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam attend the opening session of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Doha on November 12, 2000. AFP
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) meets with Libya's late leader Moamer Kadhafi at his residence in Azizia on February 25, 2001. AFP
A picture dated June 13, 2003 shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher (L) attending their father's funeral in Damascus. AFP
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and the foreign minister Faruq al-Shara attend the opening session of the 17th Arab Summit in Algiers on March 22, 2005. AFP
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) shakes hands with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Al-Shaab (People's) Palace in Damascus during an official visit to Syria on April 26, 2008. AFP
From R to L: French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan walk together after they posed for a family picture following a summit in Damascus on September 4, 2008. AFP
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad gestures as he delivers a speech at the Elysee Palace in Paris on December 9, 2010, after sharing a working lunch with his French counterpart during a two-day official visit to France. AFP
A file handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Facebook page on July 8, 2022, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C-L) and his wife Asma al-Assad (C) walking with their children, Hafez (2nd-R), Karim (R) and Zein (L), next to the Grand Umayyad mosque in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad hold a meeting in Damascus on January 7, 2020. AFP