After Hafez's death, the estate is said to have been inherited by Bashar's sister, Bushra Assad. Security forces, consisting of wounded Syrian war veterans, were stationed in the area to prevent ...

Syria's iron-fisted leader Bashar al-Assad is the second generation of an autocratic family dynasty that ruled Syria for more than 50 years. His absence during a lightning-fast rebel offensive ...

his sister Bushra, known as "the Iron Lady," along with her husband Asef Shawkat, a key intelligence figure; and his wife Asma al-Assad. As Assad flees, the united front once held by his family is ...