BEIRUT (AP) — Bizarre and personal photos of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad have surfaced from his abandoned residences, sparking ridicule among Syrians who only until recently were persecuted for criticizing his leadership.
The images, reportedly discovered in photo albums from Assad’s mansions in the hills of Damascus and Aleppo, painted an unflattering portrait of Bashar and his father, Hafez Assad, who had ruled Syria with an iron grip for decades. They stripped away the carefully constructed image that the Assad family had cultivated.
One photo featured Hafez Assad in his underwear, striking a bodybuilder-like pose. Other images showed Bashar Assad in a Speedo flexing his biceps; astride a yellow motorcycle in his briefs; perched on a handcycle, also in his briefs; and staring blankly in a kitchen, wearing only white underwear and a sleeveless undershirt.
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Social media footage showed Syrians touring the Assads’ opulent estates, revealing extravagant decor, jacuzzis and other lavish possessions out of reach of ordinary people living amid civil war since 2011. Fueled by decades of persecution and a desire for vengeance, people stripped the mansions of valuables and exposed Assad’s private world, including some of his photo collections.
The unbecoming images of Assad in various states of undress and odd scenarios quickly went viral, turning into an object of mockery. For many Syrians, who had endured forced imprisonment, displacement and oppression under the Assad dynasty, these photos served as both a spectacle and a moment of catharsis.
“What is it with the Assad family and being photographed in their underwear? Highly interested in knowing the fantasy behind,” journalist Hussam Hammoud wrote on X.
One particularly peculiar shot showed Bashar in a Speedo aboard a boat, surrounded by other people. Another depicted him on a balcony overlooking the sea, teasing a girl sitting on his shoulders.
In one photo, taken in a mountainous setting, Bashar Assad is pictured with a group of people, including his reportedly maternal cousin, Ihab Makhlouf, who is wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of Hitler.
One video on social media showed a man flipping through hundreds of photos in an album, featuring images from family occasions. One photo showed a young Bashar in a suit and his wife Asmaa in a white dress, reportedly from their engagement ceremony, as he places a ring on her finger. Another image captured a topless Bashar posing with a camera, as if taking a picture.
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Follow the AP’s Syria coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/syria
