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3 politicians from SY.
Country
De facto leader of Syria since December 2024 and head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist faction that led the offensive toppling Bashar al-Assad. Also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, he commands the transitional Syrian government and is navigating international pressure to broaden political inclusion and cut ties with jihadist networks. His trajectory from al-Qaeda-linked commander to head of state is one of the most unusual in contemporary politics.
President of Syria from 2000 until the fall of his government on 8 December 2024. Assad inherited power from his father Hafez al-Assad and ruled for 24 years through a combination of Ba'athist party control, military force, sectarian networks, and Russian and Iranian backing. The civil war that began in 2011 cost over 500,000 lives and displaced more than half the Syrian population before the rapid HTS-led offensive ended his rule.
Head of the Syrian Salvation Government appointed as transitional Prime Minister in December 2024 after the fall of Assad. Al-Bashir was the technocratic administrator of the HTS-controlled Idlib region and was tasked with running Syria's national ministries during the post-Assad transition period.
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