Basil al-Assad
Basil al-Assad ( Arabic باسل الأسد, DMG Bāsil al-Asad ; * March 23, 1962 in Damascus ; † January 21, 1994 ibid), also Bassel el-Assad , was the eldest son of the former President of Syria Hafiz al-Assad and his wife Anisa Machluf , as well as the brother of the current president Bashar al-Assad .
Life
From childhood, Basil was destined to take over his father's presidency. He was the head of the presidential security apparatus and played a major role in anti-corruption campaigns within the regime. He often appeared in full military uniform on official occasions to express the solidarity between the regime and the armed forces .
Deadly accident
In the early morning hours of January 21, 1994, Basil drove his Mercedes-Benz under foggy visibility and at a significantly excessive speed of almost 130 km / h over the access road from Damascus to Damascus International Airport , 30 km outside the city , to find a last-minute stop Flight to Germany . With him drove his cousin Hafis Machluf in the passenger seat and a chauffeur in the back seat, who should have brought the car back to town later. After Basil missed the exit to the airport, the car collided with a concrete barrier and overturned several times. Basil al-Assad was killed instantly, while Hafez Machluf suffered a head injury and the chauffeur was unharmed.
aftermath
Basil's death meant that his younger brother Bashar al-Assad , who had been in the background until then and was training to become an ophthalmologist in London, moved up as his successor for the presidency. Bashar became president after the death of his father in 2000.
Basil is referred to by the Syrian state media as "Basil the Martyrs ". Many squares and streets such as the airport in Latakia and a dam project in Tartus were named after him. Portraits of him along with his father and brother can be found all over Syria. Statues of him can be found in several Syrian cities. He was buried in a large mausoleum in Qardaha , his father's birth town. His father Hafiz al-Assad was also buried there in 2000.
Individual evidence
- ^ William E. Schmidt: Assad's son killed in an auto crash. In: The New York Times . January 22, 1994, accessed March 31, 2011 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Assad, Basil al- |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Syrian politician, son of Hafiz al-Assad |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 23, 1962 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Damascus |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 21, 1994 |
| Place of death | Damascus |