Foreigners

Syria’s First Family

An illustrated guide to the Assad clan. How long can it cling to power?

Last year, Slate published an illustrated guide to the members of Bashar al-Assad’s family. In the 19 months since, the death toll in Syria has surpassed 100,000 as the country descended into civil war. The family tree lost a branch since our previous publication, when Assad’s brother-in-law Assef Shawkat was killed in a bomb attack by the Free Syrian Army in July 2012. Yet even as the international community debates military action over the regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons, Assad and his inner circle have managed to hold on to power. The original illlustration is reprinted below.