Bashar al-Assad

Bashar al-Assad (born September 11, 1965) is the current President of Syria and the son of former President Hafez al-Assad.

Originally an optometrist, al-Assad initally had few political aspirations. Hafez al-Assad had been grooming Bashar's older brother, Basil al-Assad to be the future president. However, Basil died in a plane crash which in turn made Bashar his father's new heir apparent. When the elder Assad died in 2000, Bashar inherited the presidency.

He is often characterized as a very "hands-off" president, due to his political inexperience. Some accuse him of being little more than a mere puppet of hardliners from his father's administration.