Assad's fall from power plunges Syria, Middle East into uncertainty

Few Arab leaders as wily as Assad in navigating treacherous politics of region

- Jonathan Eyal

LONDON - The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not only change the fate of his country, but also signal an important turning point for the Middle East.

Few Arab leaders were as wily at navigating the treacherous politics of the region as Mr Assad. His removal, therefore, creates a substantial strategic void. And grave uncertainty is now Syria's inevitable fate.

The Syrian capital of Damascus fell into the hands of a rebel alliance led by the Islamist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) shortly before 7am local time on Dec 8, at the end of a brief campaign launched a few weeks ago.

The HTS militiamen first took Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city, in late November. Shortly afterwards, the all-important citadel of Hama fell to the rebels, finally opening their way to Damascus.

The speed of the collapse of Mr Assad's regime took governments everywhere by complete surprise because the Assad family had ruled Syria since 1970, when Mr Hafez al-Assad - Bashar's father - first seized power in a military coup.

Mr Bashar al-Assad - an eye surgeon by profession who initially trained in Britain and inherited power after the death of his father - had held Syria in thrall since the beginning of this century.

Both father and son were infamous for their brutality.

The elder Assad put down a 1982 rebellion against his regime by obliterating the entire town of Hama, killing around 50,000 civilians and displacing a further 100,000.

And his son fought a revolt which started in 2011 during the so-called Arab Spring wave of protests with equal cruelty. An estimated 600,000 Syrians are believed to have perished in the fighting. Many were killed by a government that did not hesitate to use poison gas against its people.