By AFP More by this AuthorBeirutBashar al-Assad's rise to power after three decades of his father's iron-fisted rule raised hope of democratic opening. BROTHER DIED"Bashar was a very different character from the other prominent figures in the regime," said Syria expert Daniel Neep. "What we're seeing now is a strange, sub-contracted form of political authority that has no precedent in modern Syrian politics." In Assad's third decade in power, the country "will be an impoverished rump of its past self", Itani predicted. "Bashar resembles Hafez in his tenacity and ability to keep the core of the regime intact," Itani said.

Source: Daily Nation June 09, 2020 03:22 UTC