Bassel al Assad was his father’s original successor but died in a 1994 car crash. The death of the popular, vigorous military commander prompted Hafez al Assad to recall his shy, ...

His father, Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria following a bloodless army-backed coup in 1970, was grooming Bashar al-Assad's eldest brother, Bassel Assad, to be the next president. A major in the ...

President Bashar al-Assad, ... Bassel, to succeed him. But when Bassel died in a 1994 car crash, Bashar was transformed overnight from obscure London eye doctor to heir apparent.

For weeks, Ziad Abu al-Dahab has been training for gold at an equestrian tournament near Damascus -- in a sport once dominated by Syria's Assad family and their inner circle.

Then Bassel died in a car accident in 1994, meaning Bashar was the one who came to power upon his father's death in 2000. His father was characterized by dictatorial rule, but some felt Bashar ...

On the grounds of the Guard complex a statue of the president's brother Bassel al-Assad, atop a horse, has been toppled and Bassel's head severed. Bassel al-Assad died in a 1994 road accident. He had ...

Bashar al-Assad, an eye doctor educated in the West, was never his father Hafez' choice to take over from him to preserve the Alawite sect's iron control of Syria. The eldest son, Bassel, had been ...

A statue of the brother of Syrian President Bashar Assad appeared to be toppled over in the city of Aleppo. Footage filmed by a freelance journalist showed the sculpture of Bassel Assad being ...

Video verified by Reuters showed Syrian rebel fighters pulling down a statue of Bashar al-Assad's brother, Bassel, in Aleppo on Nov. 30.