DAMASCUS ¨C Bashar Assad¡¯s 24-year rule of Syria ended abruptly in December 2024 following a lightning advance by rebel forces who struck while the Russian and Iranian allies who had backed him through years of civil war were distracted by conflicts elsewhere.
He fled to Moscow, ending more than ?five decades of ironfisted rule by his family and opening a new chapter for Syria. The historic shift was underscored on Tuesday when a Damascus court sentenced him to death in his absence for crimes including killings, arbitrary arrests and torture during the years in which he clung to power.
Assad became president in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez.
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