This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Syria
Dr Bashar al-Assad (Arabic: بشار الأسد, Baššār al-Asad) (born 11 September 1965) is the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Regional Secretary of the Baath Party, and the son of former President Hafez al-Assad.

Constitution
President

• Bashar al-Assad
  Vice President
  
  
  
  • Farouk al-Sharaa
    Prime Minister
    
    
    
    • Muhammad Naji al-Otari
      People's Council
      Political parties
      
      
      
      • Baath Party
        Elections:
        
        
        
        • 2007 pres.
          2007 parl.
          Governorates
          
          
          
          • Districts
            Human rights
            Foreign relations
            Foreign aid Presidency
            The United States, European Union, Lebanon, Israel, and France accuse Assad of logistically supporting militant groups aimed at Israel and any opposing member to his regime. These include Hezbollah, Fatah al-Islam, and Islamic Jihad. Israel has lately offered the return of the Golan Heights if Assad cooperates.
            
            Foreign relations
            A major crisis began with the death of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, which has been blamed on Syria in the media. According to Assad, Syria had been withdrawing troops from Lebanon beginning in 2000, but due to this event, was forced to pull out the rest of the forces and security services from Lebanon. Assad has refused to be questioned himself or for other high-ranking Syrian officials to be questioned by the special UN prosecutor in connection to Hariri's murder. In summation, the Hariri affair has proved the most pressing crisis for the Syrian government in decades, possibly since Hafez al-Assad seized power.
            
            2005 Lebanon crisis
            In a speech about the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, on August 15, 2006, Bashar al-Assad said that Israel had suffered a defeat in that war and that Hezbollah had "hoisted the banner of victory" and hailed its actions as a "successful resistance." He called Israel an "enemy," with whom no peace could be achieved as long as they and their allies (especially the U.S.) support the practice of preemptive war. As a consequence of these remarks, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who had been seeking to help as a broker in the Middle East peace process, called off a planned visit to Damascus.
            
            2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
            Standing about 189 cm (6 ft 2 in), Assad has a distinct physical build. He speaks English from an intermediate to an advanced level and is mediocre in French, having studied at the Franco-Arab al-Hurriyet school in Damascus, before going on to medical school at the University of Damascus Faculty of Medicine. He completed his Ophthalmology Residency training in the Military Hospital of Lattakia,subsequently he went on to get subspecialty training in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital in London.
            The Assad family are members of the minority Alawite sect, and members of that group have been prominent in the governmental hierarchy and army since 1963 when the Baath Party first came to power. Their origins are to be found in the Latakia region of north-west Syria. Bashar's family is originally from Qardaha, just east of Latakia.
            
            Personal life
            Family connections are presently an important part of Syrian politics. Several close family members of Hafez al-Assad have held positions within the government since his rise to power, most notably of course Bashar himself. Most of the al-Assad and Makhlouf families have also grown tremendously wealthy, and parts of that fortune have reached their Alawite tribe in Qardaha and its surroundings. The following is a list of some of Bashar's most prominent relatives:
            
            Hafez al-Assad, father. Former president. Died in 2000.
            Rifaat al-Assad, uncle. Formerly a powerful security chief; now in exile in France after attempting a coup d'êtat in 1984
            Jamil al-Assad, uncle. Parliamentarian, commander of a minor militia.
            Anisah Makhlouf, mother.
            Basil al-Assad, brother. Original candidate for succession. Died in an automobile accident in 1994.
            Majd al-Assad, brother. Electrical engineer; widely reported to have mental problems.
            Lt. Col. Maher al-Assad, brother. Head of Presidential Guard.
            Dr. Bushra al-Assad, sister. Pharmacist. Said to be a strong influence on both Hafez and Bashar, sometimes called the "brain" of Syrian politics. Married to Gen. Assef Shawqat.
            General Adnan Makhlouf, cousin of Anisah. Commands the Republican Guard.
            Adnan al-Assad, cousin of Hafez. Leader of "Struggle companies" militia in Damascus.
            Muhammad al-Assad, cousin of Hafez. Another leader of the "Struggle companies".
            General Assef Shawqat, brother-in-law. Husband of Bushra. Present head of military intelligence, close associate of Bashar. See also
            
            Bashar Al-Assad (Major World Leaders) by Susan Muaddi Darraj, (June 2005, Chelsea House Publications) ISBN 0-7910-8262-8 for young adults
            Syria Under Bashar Al-Asad: Modernisation and the Limits of Change by Volker Perthes, (2004, Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-856750-2 (Adelphi Papers #366)
            Bashar's First Year: From Ophthalmology to a National Vision (Research Memorandum) by Yossi Baidatz, (2001, Washington Institute for Near East Policy) ISBN B0006RVLNM
            Syria: Revolution From Above by Raymond Hinnebusch (Routledge; 1st edition, August 2002) ISBN 0-415-28568-2