| " A poster of Bashar al-Assad at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Damascus In 2015, several members of the Assad family died in under unclear circumstances | However, Assad also said the country would not "close doors" to an Arab-brokered solution if "national sovereignty" was respected |
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| In February 2016, head of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, , told reporters: "The mass scale of deaths of detainees suggests that the government of Syria is responsible for acts that amount to extermination as a crime against humanity |
North Korea See also: North Korea is alleged to have aided Syria in developing and enhancing a programme.
27| Ribbon Distinction Country Date Location Notes Reference Grand Cross of the National Order of the 25 June 2001 Highest rank in the Order of the Legion of Honor in the Republic of France | |
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| In 2018, the exposed North Korea for their facilitation of Syria's development of chemical weapons | "Why Tehran Won't Abandon Assad ism " |
| Assad's paternal grandfather, , had managed to change his status from peasant to minor notable and, to reflect this, in 1927 he had changed the family name from Wahsh meaning "Savage" to Al-Assad | On 30 March, it was announced that both had recovered and tested negative for the disease |
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| [Who is the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad? House Committee on Foreign Affairs | He also urged to return home from Turkey, while assuring them and blaming all unrest on a small number of saboteurs |
Other leaked cables contained remarks by US general which stated that "Bashar al-Asad was well aware that his brother-in-law 'Asif Shawqat, Director of Syrian Military Intelligence, had detailed knowledge of the activities of AQI facilitator , who was using Syrian territory to bring foreign fighters and suicide bombers into Iraq", with later cables adding that Petraeus thought that "in time, these fighters will turn on their Syrian hosts and begin conducting attacks against Bashar al-Assad's regime itself".
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