Bachar El Assad, le pouvoir ou la mort

His name will go down in history as the man who destroyed Syria. Everyone loved him, including the nurses. Bashar is a special boy. He's not very sure of himself. He's a total introvert. He was going to have to become the leader. For him, it was too overwhelming. He couldn't take it. We were surprised to see him capable of getting people killed. They took me down to an underground cell, dark and very dirty. And I didn't know how long I'd be there. We're starting a new relationship. Not for a few days, not for a few weeks.

From that moment on, he went a bit crazy. Syria is a very safe country. No shielding. The Syrian people are peaceful and friendly. It's not a revolution, it's terrorism, that's Bashar's logic! When we talk to him about the ever-increasing death toll, he doesn't give a damn, he sleeps like a baby. It's December 2010. Bashar El-Assad is in Paris with his wife for a 3-day official trip. On each of their visits, the couple usually settle into a palace near the Champs-Élysées. At the time, the Syrian president was considered a friend of France. When he went to

Paris with his wife, he was welcomed with all due respect. It was incredible. France showed him friendship and affection. In the morning, Bashar el-Assad left his hotel on foot with his bodyguards and a few aides. He had an appointment 300 meters away with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Élysée Palace. At the time, relations with France were going very well. Mr. Sarkozy played a key role in this reconciliation. Bashar al-Assad has ruled Syria for 10 years. Most Western countries consider him a dictator. But Nicolas Sarkozy believes he can guide him down a different path. The

calculation of Nicolas Sarkozy's diplomatic advisors at the time was to say the American Satan has such an image in the Middle East today that there's a place for him. And since nature abhors a vacuum, let's take it. For us, it was important. Our duty is to take Syria away from all these reprehensible practices to lead it towards something better. The Syrian president did not hesitate to accept the invitation. This reconciliation with France should help him soften his image as a dictator. From Bashar al-Assad's point of view, this is absolutely crucial. Because he needs a kind

of international recognition, which France is offering him. Bashar el-Assad was a kind of culmination in his quest to live and be perceived, to be welcomed like ordinary heads of state or government. It was already the fifth meeting between the two presidents. Nicolas Sarkozy believes that his Syrian counterpart is a partner he can count on. On the whole, the President was very satisfied with the way things were evolving. Bashar was beginning to sketch out a new way of running the State, with a new constitution, new laws guaranteeing brand-new freedoms for the press, the right of association

and so on. To underline the closeness between the two presidents, Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni invited Bashar al-Assad and his wife to a private luncheon. What I remember of the conversation is that it was quite banter. It was really a couple-to-couple conversation. It's a relaxed, cordial atmosphere. At the end of the meal, journalists are invited to immortalize this image of cordial understanding. Bashar el-Assad and his wife are happy to play media games. They're obviously happy to be here. I think it's impossible not to be convinced of their good faith that day. Yet this is the

last time that Bashar al-Assad will show this reassuring face. Because as 2010 draws to a close, the tide of history will turn. Less than a month later, in this small Tunisian village, An angry crowd accompanied the coffin of Mohamed Bouazizi. The young ambulance salesman had set himself alight in protest against police harassment. The demonstration marked the start of a revolt that would sweep through the authoritarian regimes of the Arab world. People demanded more economic freedom, less corruption and more democratic freedom. This was the beginning of the Arab Spring, which reached Syria in March. The protest

began in Dera, a town in the southwest of the country. Within minutes, a hundred or so young people had gathered. Generally speaking, it was very easy for the security forces to disperse the Syrians. All they had to do was intimidate them with insults. But this time it was different. The young people were no longer afraid. We, the older generation, were hesitant. We were afraid because we were well aware of the cruelty of this regime. But the young people, with their enthusiasm, advanced towards the security forces. In the days that followed, the mobilization intensified and began

to spread to other towns in the country. Bashar el-Assad, so benevolent and conciliatory during his visit to Paris, was to reveal a completely different side of his personality. To counter the revolt, he opted for total repression. At the time, I repeated many times that a military solution would only lead to destruction. But this was not the opinion of the security chiefs - quite the contrary. They advised him to arrest people and kill them. On March 30, Bashar al-Assad threatened his opponents live on television from the Syrian Parliament. The talk of stiffening up and closing down

made no sense. So I think there was pressure or a power environment to make him change his mind. This was the beginning of a descent into hell for the Syrian nation. In the space of a few months, the dead numbered in the thousands. This is a power that has historically been repressive. So they're going to use once again the weapon they think they've mastered: repression and violence. And indeed, for the first 4-5 months, they bloodily repressed demonstrations that were for the most part pacifist. Despite this violence, the demonstrations continued unabated. One young author even dared

to write an anti-Bachar hymn, a protest song taken up in chorus throughout the country. A few days later, the author of the text was found murdered. The young singer had been tortured and his vocal cords torn out. An unbearable image. What does the Syrian regime want? To make people understand that it has no limits to atrocity when its power is challenged. We were surprised to see Bashar al-Assad with a face we didn't know. We were surprised to see him capable of getting people killed. This is the story of a man with two faces. On the

one hand, the timid Dr. Bachar, who initially seduced the West with his promises of openness. On the other, the terrible Mr. el-Assad, a dictator accused of massacring part of his own people over the past 7 years, The result is a war unfolding before our very eyes, with hundreds of thousands of victims. This is also one of the first keys that may shed light on Bashar el-Assad's psychology. Up until the age of 30, he never dreamed of entering politics, let alone becoming president. On the contrary, he did everything to escape the political intrigues of the Syrian

dictatorship founded by his father. In 1993, he was a long way from Damascus. He was a doctor in the heart of Europe, in London. Bashar el-Assad has been living here for 6 months. He is finishing his medical studies. He is 29 years old and is an ophthalmology intern at a well-known clinic. He had basic medical training, but no experience of eye surgery. He had to be trained in everything. So at first, he did basic procedures like eyelid care and other simple tasks. He was a very good student because he was very disciplined and focused on

his work. He gave the impression that he loved what he was doing and that he was going to succeed. He had a very good relationship with the patients. He always communicated with them in an extremely sensitive way. Everybody liked him, including the nurses. And he was very respectful with all levels of staff. Concentrating on his studies, Bashar el-Assad leads a discreet life between the clinic and the small apartment he occupies in an upmarket part of London. He seems to do everything in his power to make people forget that he is the son of one of

the most feared men on the planet, Hafez el-Assad, the dictator who has ruled Syria with an iron fist for over 20 years. Let's go back in time. The year is 1973. Hafez el-Assad had seized power in a military coup 2 years earlier. On that day, in the old town of Damascus, he was acclaimed by a crowd under the orders of the security services. He had founded a regime under his complete control. No one dared say that at the time, because the mere mention of the idea would have landed us in prison for 20 years. We

were afraid, even I who was close to him. When people talked politics or mentioned Hafez el-Assad's name, he lowered his voice. The dictator imposed himself through fear, because he comes from a Muslim community that is very much in the minority in his country, the Alawites, a mountain people dominated for centuries by Sunnis, the majority branch of Islam, who make up 70% of the Syrian population. The Alawites are a sect with a very low level of religious practice. When you walk through the streets of Latakia, in Alawite country, you see young girls in miniskirts, no veils

and so on. So these are people who are very secular and therefore quickly became opposed to Sunni doctrine. To run the country, Hafez el-Assad functioned as a clan leader. He placed Alawites in key positions in the regime, as well as members of his own family. Hafez has 5 children, and is counting on his eldest son Bassel to succeed him. Bassel has been trained by his father since childhood. That was his plan for the presidency. He had to excel in every field: shooting, swimming, parachuting and administration. It has to be said that Bassel's personality was much

stronger than Bashar's. On the right, in the photo, is Bachar. The second son in his family, nothing predestined him to succeed his father one day. Bachar is a very special boy. He's not very good at school, even though he's a hard worker. He's not very sure of himself, he's a total introvert. To put it more simply, he's very shy. Bashar el-Assad feels a little isolated in the family. He's a little unloved because he's overwhelmed by the personality of his sister, his older sister Bouchra, who's a strong woman. And he's also crushed by his older brother

Bassel, who's a sanguine, fiery type. At the age of 16, Bashar, a high school student, still has nothing in common with a future leader. He shows little interest in politics and devotes himself to his studies. He hid his mouth with his hand when he spoke. He didn't look into his eyes, but rather slouched and hunched over. He didn't look like an official, he was very ordinary. An ordinary high-school student, but unable to escape the violence already bloodying his country. A car bomb exploded in front of the military police building. Dozens were killed. Since the late

70s, his father's regime has been shaken by a wave of attacks. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood criticizes his secular, authoritarian regime. Assad escapes several assassination attempts, and will respond to this threat with bloodshed. In 1982, when the Muslim Brothers tried to organize an armed insurrection in the city of Hama, Hafez el-Assad chose the most radical solution. He sent his troops to raze the town to the ground. The death toll was between 20 and 30,000, most of them civilians. The Muslim Brothers were put to the sword by the elite Republican Guard led by Hafez el-Assad's brother, Bashar's

uncle Rifat el-Assad. They decided at the time that they had to clean out this pocket of resistance, so they didn't go into any detail on the ground. It was a massacre. The repression was very violent and the hunt for suspects began. A law was promulgated that provided for the death penalty for anyone suspected of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. All you had to do was denounce someone and he or she would be arrested. Tens of thousands of young people with patriotic or progressive leanings were thrown into prison alongside radical Islamist militants. Criticism and organization were

forbidden. In 1984, when much of the country was living in terror, Bashar began his medical studies at Damascus University. He aspired to a quiet life. He chose ophthalmology, a specialty in which there are no emergencies, except in exceptional cases. He can sleep at home, take vacations and live a normal life. This is his goal. Bashar may cultivate discretion, but it's impossible for him to forget that he's the son of a dictator, as he did that day, quietly watching a college basketball game with his friends. He was just like any other spectator watching the game and

the players. No one recognized him. Until an incident occurred, when an official from a student organization tried to push him closer to the court. He felt menacing glances staring at him and immediately knew something was wrong. The student leader was rudely pushed aside by the bodyguards who kept a constant watch on the president's son. This created a major incident, and weapons were drawn. Bashar El Assad didn't seem to appreciate this special status. He found a solution by studying abroad. At the age of 28, Bashar El Assad began a new life in London. A resident in

ophthalmology, the withdrawn young man seems at last to be blossoming. He said "I've never been happier than in London". He's in London, he can be himself, and no one blames him. It was also in London that he met the woman of his life. At an evening party for expatriates from the Syrian upper middle class, he falls under the spell of an 18-year-old girl, Asma. There's a girl in the house, called Asma El Akras at the time, who appeals to him greatly, and he begins his courtship. And that's how, against a backdrop of complete shyness, he

met the girl who was to become his wife. But Bashar El Assad didn't have time to make a life for himself in London. Nor to finish his medical studies. On January 21, 1994, he received a phone call from Damascus. His elder brother, Bassel, had just been killed in a road accident. The regime had just lost its heir, and Bashar was next in line. He came to see me that morning. And he told me that, unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to continue the course. Because he had to return to Syria after the unfortunate death of his

brother in a car accident. He showed no emotion. He was simply rather mysterious in the way he talked about it. This is Bashar's intimate tragedy: he's gone from being an ophthalmologist in the making to a dictator in the making. The following day, Bassel El Assad was laid to rest on the land of his family clan, in the Alaouite mountains. His father, Hafez, had wanted a funeral worthy of a head of state. Bassel's funeral was a huge event. I can assure you that millions of Syrians tried to reach Kardaa where he was buried. The family and

their propaganda had presented Bassel as the man who would bring modernization. Everyone cried, and it was sincere, because people loved him. Alongside his father, Bashar El Assad made his first public appearance that day. The Syrian people did not know him. Yet he was now the new heir to power. It was a shock for him. He was completely destabilized. He couldn't come to his senses. I could never have imagined living through such a tragedy, as you, my brother Bassel, have left us. You were dedicated to your work and loyal to your country. I imagine you leaving

on horseback, as if carried by a wave on the open sea. In the space of a few hours, he had become the center of attention. He was going to have to become the boss. For him, it was too overwhelming. He couldn't take it. Especially as he would soon have to put on his new suit as future president. For his father, time was running out. Hafez El Assad was suffering from cancer, and he needed to impose his new successor as quickly as possible. His father immediately told him "you have to learn such and such a file

and come and work with me." Hafez El Assad feared the collapse of the state he had built himself. I could feel that he didn't see in Bassar what he saw in Bassel. But what could he do? He had to prepare him. And then, Bashar got stuck. Bashar's first circle, his family circle, said that for the first time in his life, Bashar had said no to his father. But Hafez El Assad left him no choice. He had to quickly convince the regime's top dignitaries of the legitimacy of his new heir. And Bashar is far from having

the ideal profile. Many officials saw him as an unqualified, spoiled young man who had not been educated for this high office. And unfamiliar with the complexities of Syrian political life. At first, they didn't take him seriously. His father immediately took the decision to have him redo his military service to be accepted by the party tenors and major generals. A week after leaving London and giving up his career as a doctor, Bashar El Assad found himself in uniform at a military academy for accelerated training. The military training was to make him look like a worthy successor

to his father, who was a true military man. He climbs the ranks at a remarkable speed. The important thing was that he could claim to have stripes on his shoulder. In November 1994, Bashar El Assad was promoted to the rank of captain at a ceremony widely covered by the Syrian media. Less than a year after his return from London, he appeared metamorphosed. The discreet medical student seems to have accepted his presidential destiny. Even his closest friends don't recognize him. We began to notice his new personality. He never covered his mouth when he spoke. He never

slouched or relaxed again. He stood straight as a sword. When he spoke to you, he looked you straight in the eye and right in the eye. Now you knew you were in front of an official figure, and that he was soon to occupy the highest office. Having earned his military stripes, Bashar El Assad will now have to learn the subtleties of Syrian power. At first, he wasn't qualified for the job. The job of President of Syria is a very complex one. We have 19 sects and religious groups. It's very difficult to run this country. To

do so, he will need to control the various components of the regime, as his father did. We're talking about 15 intelligence services. The air force intelligence service is the most powerful. The military intelligence service responsible for controlling the army. The General Security Service. Afez El Assad has the ingenuity to place at the head of these services people who sometimes don't like each other. So they spend their time spying on each other. So by doing this, he's not thinking about overthrowing him. He was constantly fighting against time to acquire more knowledge, perfect his networks and keep

up with the times. The deal was, you reach the level to earn your father's respect and become president. He wasn't going to risk seeing the line die out with him, and he'd only hand over power if he was really ready and did what was necessary to be ready. A year later, a media campaign was launched to sell Bashar El Assad to the Syrian people. In the newspapers, he is presented as a reformer. The propaganda began and they pointed to Bashar as the hope. The communication campaign was based on two pillars: modernization and anti-corruption. The aim

was not to impose Bashar El Assad by force, but to make him the ideal candidate. So, to maintain the illusion of democracy, Hafez El Assad never officially presented his son as his successor. No, I'm not preparing it... I'm not preparing my son to succeed me. He never mentioned it to me, which grants the right of inheritance by descent. We have none of that. Of course he knows he'll put Bashar in his place. But the Syrians count, the Syrian people count. In a way, he's worshipping him, but he's worshipping intelligently by letting the Syrians believe that

they still have the choice of not worshipping him, which is obviously not the case. In 1999, Hafez El Assad was very weakened by illness. But before he could install his son in power, he had to make him known on the international scene. For this, Hafez turned to France. The two countries shared a long history. For 25 years, Syria was a French protectorate before gaining independence in 1946. Among the major Western and developed countries, France is the only one with a historical relationship with Syria. The relationship with Syria is an important one, quite simply because Syria

is a key to the Middle East as a whole. And it's naturally a country where you have to be. That day, Hafez El Assad met President Jacques Chirac and asked him to sponsor his son. As Jacques Chirac confessed in his memoirs, he said: "Hafez El Assad said to me, you must consider Bachar as your son, so take him under your wing and make him a president worthy of succeeding me. Jacques Chirac immediately understood the advantage of saying to Hafez El Assad, you're sick, I'll take care of your son and open the door to Western diplomacy

for him. In November 1999, Jacques Chirac received Bashar El Assad at the Elysée Palace. A powerful symbol, it established him in the eyes of the world as the undisputed heir to Syrian power. We also know that his father entrusted him with projects involving French companies. Alcatel will win a contract to secure communications for the presidential guard. I expressed my point of view to President Chirac. He has always shown understanding for the rights of the Arab people in general, and the Syrian people in particular. At the age of 34, Bashar El Assad now embodies the hope

of a liberalization of the Syrian regime. President Chirac is seduced. Jacques Chirac finds him quite modern, quite open. So there's a kind of theory that's starting to spread at the time that it's going to be more modern. More modern how, we don't really know. Even the specialist journalists who interviewed him during his stay were charmed. While his father inspired fear, Bashar El Assad seems more open. He has a friendly, approachable manner. And we can talk, we can ask in-depth questions. He tries to answer them, and you can disagree with him, interrupt him and all that.

Which wasn't always the case with the father. You couldn't interrupt the father. There's a kind of friendliness about Bashar El Assad. You think, well, the guy looks like a nice young fellow after all. If he's the successor, why not? 6 months later, Hafez El Assad passed away at the age of 69. Immediately, his inner circle moved to protect his heir. This power vacuum could lead to a coup d'état. Bashar El Assad is still not unanimously supported by the clan. He is in a weak position because his father, the raïs, has just died. He hasn't yet

taken command. They're afraid he'll be killed. He's sheltered. He's overprotected on this one. They put him in a bunker, and he's not allowed to move. All the generals and what we call the first circle, in other words, the people closest to him, will effectively lock all Syrian doors. The army, intelligence, all the keys to the regime must be locked. From now on, the Syrian president's funeral will serve to promote his heir. Not only portraits of the deceased could be seen in the processions. The figure of Bashar El Assad was also brandished in the foreground. Even

Jacques Chirac played along with this skilfully orchestrated transfer of power. He was the only Western head of state to attend the ceremony. He's not going there to pay tribute to Hafez el-Assad, but to endorse the young, inexperienced President Bashar El Assad. This was Jacques Chirac's general style. Warm, demonstrative, quite tactile and even affectionate with the young, quote-unquote, Bashar El Assad. He shared a kind of hope that many Syrians did, in fact, at first. Their feeling was perhaps one of promising change for the country. In July 2000, a single candidate for the presidency, Bashar El Assad

was elected head of state by the Syrian Parliament, which took orders from the regime. He inherited a dictatorial power with which he was very familiar. His father also bequeathed him an entourage of trusted men who control the country's single party, army and intelligence services. The succession plan devised by Hafez El Assad calls for Bashar to modernize Syria to guarantee the survival of the dictatorship and the clan's control. He must retain the support of his people. The young president had a roadmap, but he was soon overtaken by events. That day, Bashar El Assad was due to

make his first major speech as head of state before Parliament. The deputies appointed by the regime are all his supporters. It was they who had nominated him as the sole candidate for the presidency. For over an hour, the new president outlined his plans for the future. And some of the phrases sounded like a thunderclap. First, we need to come up with new ideas in all areas. He sends out the message that he is the president of reform, the first of all. Some are calling for a transparent economy, others for transparent media. There's no doubt about

it: their demands are very important, and I agree with them. In this first speech, he also talks about corruption. He explains that he is going to fight corruption. At that point, he really sparked real hope among Syrians. We must put an end to the state of laxity, indifference and dereliction of duty. And we must fight the corrupt. The man who became President will always remain the same: the doctor, the officer, and above all the citizen. At the time, many Syrians believed in the possibility of reform. They certainly didn't hope to leap in one fell swoop

to a Western-style liberal society, but at least some reforms. It was hoped that this man, who had not grown up in the mountains as a starving peasant like his father, would be more civilized, away from barbarism, away from the system of arbitrary arrest. It was thought that he would bring modernity. And right from his first days in power, Bashar al-Assad showed concrete signs of opening up the regime. He freed political prisoners and appointed reformist ministers. He was sincere and serious, because the whole world was changing. We were in the post-Soviet era and in the post-industrial

revolution with new technologies. So he knew that this wave would sweep through Syria, and with it, sooner or later, the democratic wave. Bashar knows he has no choice but to go with the flow of history to retain power. He even welcomed his own political adversaries to the palace, such as the intellectual Aref Dalila, a staunch opponent of his father's regime. He spoke of his desire to reform and asked what could be done. These reforms, he said, needed the help of all the major opposition figures. He told me he understood that the situation was much worse

than he had imagined. When we talked together, we spoke clearly, sincerely and without apprehension. We were in perfect harmony, agreeing on everything, which suggested that Syria was indeed moving in a new direction. A wind of freedom is beginning to blow across Syria. A period that will soon be known as the Damascus Spring. For the first time in the country's history, freedom of speech was unleashed. Opposition newspapers appeared. Some even published cartoons mocking the military and intelligence services. There are going to be salons, what have effectively been called democratic forums, where people meet in their homes

to discuss politics. Which is something absolutely revolutionary. Opponent Aref Dalila's home is becoming one of the places for debate and reflection that are springing up all over the country. Intellectuals, students and journalists all gathered there. The potential of Syrian youth and intellectuals has been held captive for decades. And just as a genie emerges from a lamp, they came out to express themselves freely. But in early 2002, the Damascus Spring took a turn that Bashar al-Assad had not foreseen. Aref Dalila and 9 other opponents published a manifesto clearly calling for an end to the dictatorship. We

called for freedom, the rule of law, the elimination of security authoritarianism, an end to corruption and the arrest of those at the head of this corruption. Directly targeted by these attacks, the regime's old guard put pressure on the President. This power, accustomed for 40 years to not hearing contrary opinions, began to fear that words would become deeds. I knew that Bashar would have wanted this to continue. But they convinced him and warned him. Careful, don't make a mistake. If you open the door wide, you won't be able to hold back the tongues. Less than a

year after coming to power, Bashar al-Assad has put an abrupt end to his policy of openness. There's no transition. It's I authorize, finally, I authorize more. Boom, end of story. It's a blow to the back of the head, a huge bamboozling blow for all Syrian intellectuals and civil society. On the orders of the President, the security services took action. The 10 intellectuals who had called for an end to the dictatorship were arrested, including Aref Dalila. I was still asleep when there was a loud knock on the door, shouting "State security, open up!". I quickly put

on a pair of pants and a shirt and went to the bathroom where I took my toothbrush and toothpaste. They said no, no, you won't need it, you'll be back in a couple of hours. I said yes, yes, I would need it. They took me down to a dark and very dirty underground cell. And I didn't know how long I'd spend there, since others have stayed there for decades. After 10 months in prison, Aref Dalila is tried by a military court. He and the other signatories of the manifesto were convicted of undermining state security. No

discussion took place during the trial. No questions were asked. In the fourth session, the president of the court simply pronounced the sentence. Aref Dalila receives the heaviest sentence, 10 years in prison. Opposition newspapers and democratic forums were all shut down within a few months. Bashar el-Assad will nevertheless continue to play the role of reforming president. This was a prerequisite for retaining the support of his Western partners, particularly France. In 2003, 2 emissaries from Jacques Chirac arrived in Damascus. The French president gave them the task of carrying out an audit of the Syrian regime. He told

us, "I'd like to help certain leaders in the Middle East, including Bashar. I have conversations with him and Bashar wants to make a real administrative reform. We understand that Chirac had also pushed him in this direction, posing as tutor or godfather to a young leader, whom he also told us he mistrusted all the same. Bashar el-Assad opens every door for them. The 2 high-ranking French officials spent 2 weeks investigating the workings of the Syrian state. They met with each minister, then drew up a report proposing drastic reforms. It's a harsh report in its diagnosis. We

show that the administration is not working at all, that the ministries themselves don't work at all. We have indicated that the administration must be honest, and that the system does not guarantee this. The report points in particular to the role of the intelligence services, which control all the ministries. We were saying that we found that in the ministries, duplication or tripling of functions, on the one hand, by civil servants themselves, and on the other, by departments, was highly detrimental to effective public action. That's how we turned it. The report is harsh on the regime. But

Bashar al-Assad doesn't seem to mind. On the contrary, he was particularly cooperative with the two French emissaries. In principle, the reports you write, especially to a great leader, are not really meant to be read. You have an advisor who, in a page and a half, sums it up for you. In this case, he had read it himself. He had highlighted whole passages. He butchered us for 2 hours, asking pointed questions like an intelligent man. He told us he was glad to have a real diagnosis he could trust, since President Chirac, being a friend of his,

had sent us. So he tells us he's very interested and ready to implement much of this report. I believed in his goodwill at the time, yes, frankly. The Syrian leader seems to accept all the reforms recommended by France. But in reality, nothing will really change in the way the regime operates. The much-criticized security services will retain all their influence. Some of the reforms will be implemented, but they will always come up against obstacles. It's the dark forces of the regime - the security services - that will stand in the way. Basically, the economy is being

liberalized, but there's no political liberalization. Bashar el-Assad didn't listen to the wise man Jacques Chirac thought he was when he advised him. He is in the process of taking his country back quite severely. For Jacques Chirac, it is absolutely essential to do something. Jacques Chirac is extremely disappointed. He realized that Bashar al-Assad was not the reformer he had hoped for. So he decided to act to weaken the Syrian regime. And there's one issue on which he can intervene: Lebanon, the neighboring country that Syrian troops have now occupied for 20 years. High-ranking Syrian dignitaries are making

huge profits from this occupation, thanks to a network of corruption and money-laundering built up under the reign of Afez el-Assad. Jacques Chirac, with the support of the United States and the UN, demands the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. But Bashar el-Assad had no intention of being dictated to. In Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, tensions are about to escalate. At the beginning of 2005, one man embodies the resistance to Syrian domination of Lebanon. Former Prime Minister Rafi Kariri, a French ally. Rafi Kariri is a businessman who left Lebanon long ago for Saudi Arabia, where he

made his fortune, who went on to become a very, very close friend of Jacques Chirac. And so, for Rafi Kariri, what mattered was that the Syrian troops left Lebanon. The businessman lived under heavy protection. In the preceding months, several opponents of the Syrian occupation had been assassinated. Bashar el-Assad had even threatened him personally during a meeting a few months earlier. The meeting was extremely brutal. There were even threats and so on. And so, when Rafiq Hariri returned from this visit to Damascus, his Lebanese friends told him to lay low because his safety was in danger.

That day, Rafi Kariri had an appointment at the Lebanese Parliament. Shortly before 1 p.m., he left a downtown café with an imposing security detail. It's a convoy of 20 cars with phone and signal jammers everywhere. The cars are real hedgehogs. These are ultra-armored cars, specially made in Germany. They weigh as much as a tank. You never know which car he's in. His convoy passes in front of what used to be called the hotel district, heading for what's known as the corniche. A booby-trapped van exploded as his convoy passed. Rafi Kariri died instantly. The one-ton charge

of explosives blew up part of the neighborhood, killing 20 people and injuring more than 100. The Lebanese immediately point the finger at Syria. Rafi Kariri was a close friend of Jacques Chirac. The very next day, the French President arrived in Beirut, welcomed by the family of the deceased. Jacques Chirac was devastated because he had almost lost his brother. He had lost his advisor. Jacques Chirac is devastated and above all very angry with Bashar al-Assad. He is convinced that he ordered the attack. He will never forgive him. Jacques Chirac's suspicions are understandable. Even if nothing could

be precisely and legally established, he cut all ties. His friendship with Rafi Kariri outweighed his political analysis of Syria at the start of his term. It was time for a break, and for Jacques Chirac a clean break. And for France, it just means a sudden, clean break in relations with Syria. If Bashar al-Assad is indeed the instigator of this attack, he has made a very bad calculation. Ten days after Rafi Kariri's death, a million people - a quarter of the Lebanese population, marched in Beirut to demand the withdrawal of Syrian troops. Syria is in the

UN's crosshairs. Its president could even appear before an international tribunal. Bashar el-Assad was forced to give in. He ordered his army to withdraw. His troops left Lebanon a month later. It was a humiliation and a failure. Bashar has suffered a real setback, but in every respect. After Hariri's death, yes, Bashar el-Assad went through a difficult period. Syria was isolated. Now considered a pariah on the international stage, the Syrian president could find himself weakened in his own country. But he is not giving up. Bashar el-Assad will react in a mountain halawiyat. We hunker down under the

storm. We have the power to cause trouble. We're going to use it. We'll gamble on time. And we'll survive. And to survive, Bashar al-Assad will rely on those he trusts the most, the members of his family. Every Friday, the President dines with his siblings at his mother's home. Since Bashar's election, they have become the most influential figures in the country. Maher, his younger brother, who is the boss of the 4th division, the armored unit responsible for guarding Damascus. He is a violent character who, for example, shot his brother-in-law in 1998. And then there's Bashar's sister,

Bouchra, who married Assef Chaoukad, head of military intelligence. A powerful figure in the security galaxy. Together, they will help Bashar el-Assad eliminate all his potential enemies. Vice-president Kadam was ousted at that time. Then followed one exclusion operation after another. Secret police agents would question any employee who arrived late for work. It was terrible. There were days when they were able to arrest 200 people from a single department. All these operations led to the definitive liquidation of Bashar al-Assad's opponents. Two years after the Lebanese crisis, helped by his clan, Bashar el-Assad became a dictator as feared

as his father. I began to sense in 2007 that Bashar had become very proud. I sensed that he had changed. He was no longer talking about reform projects. He was no longer talking about the modernization project he had announced when we started work. He was no longer embarrassed by the behavior of the security services. Even the government felt hostage. The security services were in charge. People couldn't take it anymore. For the president is not content to simply wield undivided power. He has also seized control of the country's entire economy. In the 2000s, Rami Maklouf, a

cousin of Bashar el-Assad, became the richest man in Syria. From telephony to construction, he controls the main sectors of the economy, redistributing profits to the entire Assad clan. All telephone operators are theirs, whatever the brand. As a result, cell phone prices and subscriptions are higher than in neighboring countries. Damascus shopkeepers say that Rami Maklouf doesn't even leave crumbs for the Syrian bourgeoisie, particularly in Damascus and Aleppo, who used to live on state tenders. Hafez el-Assad was a dictator and a despot. And wages were very low. But the electricity bills were so low we didn't even

talk about it. With Bashar, on the other hand, I had bills equivalent to half my salary. Bashar arrived with a new form of tyranny, that of theft and capitalism. So it turned out that this man was even worse than his father. Bashar el-Assad manages to keep control of the country. All that remained was to restore his image on the international stage. In 2007, the UN investigation into Rafi Kariri's death stalled. For the moment, no formal proof has been produced. Even though all the evidence points to Damascus, proceedings against the Syrian dictator have been suspended. If

Jacques Chirac will never forgive him, everything changed in 2007 with the arrival of the new president, Nicolas Sarkozy. He set himself apart from his predecessor and sought to renew the thread of dialogue with Syria. For Bashar el-Assad, Nicolas Sarkozy's arrival at the Élysée Palace was an opportunity to be seized. He tried to re-establish dialogue with Paris. Shortly after Nicolas Sarkozy's arrival at the Élysée Palace, we were contacted by Bashar al-Assad's Minister of Foreign Affairs who suggested that we re-establish ties between us. Nicolas Sarkozy also sees an opportunity to make a name for himself on the

international stage by going against the grain of his predecessor. France is a great power, and France has a special voice in this part of the world. And since Syria is holding out its hand, saying that we want to return to the concert of nations, it's our diplomatic duty to say "go for it, we're going to try". Nicolas Sarkozy's starting point was a realistic one, well, either we have proof that Bashar al-Assad ordered the assassination of Rafic Karari and we condemn it, etc., etc., etc. If we don't have proof, we can't continue to marginalize Syria. In

a sign of openness, Claude Guéant was sent to Damascus to meet Bashar al-Assad. After years of tension between France and Syria, he had no idea what kind of welcome he would receive. We saw him in a gray building in the city, the street blocked by tanks, it was a very, very unsettled atmosphere. What I noticed that day was that he's a character who's very rigid in his way of being, in his way of speaking. He doesn't want to give the impression that he's giving in. That seems to me to be a very important part of

his psychology. Bashar al-Assad's initial comments are encouraging, however. He confirms his desire to re-engage with the rest of the world, he promises to liberalize his regime, to make progress towards greater freedom, more freedom for the press, for people's expression. The interview went well, but on leaving the room, Claude Guéant realized that the Syrian president was trying to send him one last message. A door was open, obviously left open on purpose, behind which people were working on devices that were obviously recording the conversations we were to have. Let's just say it was a bit off-putting. It

wasn't a very proper introduction, or even very acceptable, but it was the message that this regime existed, that it had its strength. Despite this tension, Nicolas Sarkozy played the game of reconciliation. In 2008, he invited Bashar al-Assad to Paris during the July 14th festivities. It was the definitive victory. The crowning and absolution of Bashar al-Assad at the hands of the West. You've clearly understood that we're embarking on a new relationship, not for a few days, not for a few weeks, structural, strategic relations. Nicolas Sarkozy immediately set the rules of the game. He took Syria and

Bashar with a grain of salt, if I may say so. I've never forgotten President Sarkozy's advice: if he goes off the rails, we put him back in the shadows. The Syrian president was not the only Arab world leader invited by Nicolas Sarkozy that day. But he is the only one who will be remembered. Bashar el-Assad, on the other hand, arrives in his tall, visibly fit state. And indeed, not the hero of the party, but the personality who physically and politically stands out. For us, it was proof that all the Western talk of corruption, values and

human rights are nothing but a sham. And that in truth, Westerners are just pragmatic people defending their interests. From that moment on, he went a little crazy too, because he thought he was a bit like the king of the world. But in any case, he said to himself, you can imagine, three years earlier, we were threatening him with the International Criminal Court. And now he's parading on the Champs-Élysées. Bashar el-Assad took advantage of this rehabilitation to improve his image in Western eyes. A few months later, he received a French television crew in Damascus. The Syrian

president had become an expert in the media game. Affable, friendly, open, ready to answer any question. Today, a number of Western countries see you as a conservative, a defender of an authoritarian system. So I'd like to ask you a very simple question. Who is the real Bashar al-Assad? The reformer or the conservative? This is a very important question. It's always a question of terminology. You can be a reformer. You can be both a conservative and a reformer. It's the same thing with the economy. We open up our economy, but regulate it. That's how I see

it, conservative and reformist. Still, I have the impression that he has acquired some response mechanisms. He's used to it, he knows the business. He knows how to answer questions that he considers a little hard, difficult or insidious. And so he became a professional. I wouldn't call it lying. But overall, I think he was there to show that perhaps Syria can be seen differently. As a token of modernity and to show that all is well in his country, Bashar el-Assad puts journalists in his own car and invites them to the theater. When I go to work

at the palace, I always drive myself. But it's not very safe. No, no, no, Syria is a very safe country, No shielding, we can open the window. Open your window? There's no risk. You can't be safe with bodyguards. You're safe if you have a safe company. It's all a big show to show that things are changing in Syria. There's a young president, and my wife and I can move around freely. Look, we don't even have security around us. We just go. I think the security was behind us. They follow at a distance, anyway. We can't

see them, but they're following at a distance. The gun carriers are at a distance, that's clear. Arriving at the Damascus theater, the President mingles with the audience. He wanted to show off his popularity to French journalists. Everyone was mingling, coming up to us, talking to us. Ah, Bashar, I've known him since he was young, he was brilliant, a good guy and all. Naturally, people would come up to us and tell us calculated truths. I say to myself, they've fine-tuned their position, fine-tuned their communication. Bashar al-Assad has one charming asset at his disposal in his bid

to win over the West: his wife, Asma. She is the perfect embodiment of the modern image her husband wants to project. She's a Westerner, in fact. She is of Syrian origin, of course, she is Syrian. But she was brought up in England, she's a banker, she's beautiful, very beautiful. She's an excellent marketing element for Bashar. She sells her husband. At her husband's side, she's learned to be very manipulative in what she says. She'll put her hand on your back and say, ah, but you know, my husband likes you. We see things differently. There's the past,

now there's the future. We want to embody this new generation in power. Just 3 years after being banished from the international stage, Bashar al-Assad is once again welcomed with open arms in the West. But in 2011, the explosion of the Arab Spring and the bloody repression carried out by the Syrian president will once again show the true nature of this regime. Within months, the revolt turned into civil war. The rebellion began to arm itself with the creation of the Free Syrian Army, which stood up to the regular army. For Bashar al-Assad, the situation was bogged

down, but the dictator persisted. And to hold on to power, he will use unlimited violence. In February 2012, Bashar al-Assad's army massively bombed Homs, Syria's third largest city. In recent months, the city has become the epicenter of the insurgency. The Free Syrian Army occupied several districts of the city. Hundreds of civilians were killed. It was the bloodiest offensive since the beginning of the conflict. Stunned, we discovered that Bashar el-Assad was a mass murderer, whereas we had thought he was just a dictator. A month later, the dictator appeared in one of the districts retaken from the

rebels. No matter how many people died, Bashar al-Assad was ready to do anything to stay at the head of the country. The "I won't give in", "I won't hold out", this kind of murderous blindness, he has made a trademark of it and a mark of his own personality. I and all the Syrian people know that you young people who go to war are not afraid of death. He sees himself as different from anyone else. And he thinks that everything he says is true. Because some of the Syrian people are rising up against him, he considers

that they are infidels and that he has the right to kill them. That's why he's indifferent to their fate. He doesn't care about the ever-increasing death toll. He sleeps soundly. At this time, the Syrian president seems out of touch with the horror his country is plunged into. When he exchanged e-mails with his wife, he ironized the demands of his opponents. In a series of messages intercepted by the rebels, we discover that Asma el-Assad spends fortunes buying luxury goods on the Internet. Despite the thousands of deaths, the presidential couple continue to live as if nothing had

happened. It describes her character that Asma el-Assad continues to be supplied with Vuitton, Louboutin and other French and foreign luxury brands, shoes and clothing. Obviously, this is shocking. But in the eyes of the world, Bashar al-Assad can no longer be trusted. And within the international community, certain powers are beginning to contemplate military intervention to topple him. Initially, we thought, and when I say we, I don't just mean the French, the Americans and the Russians. We thought that, well, he was going to, how shall I put it, get the hell out. In 2012, François Hollande was

elected president. One of the first acts of the new occupant of the Élysée Palace will be to send arms to the Syrian opposition. We were pushing the forces that, at the time, were quite powerful, democratic, that wanted there to be a diverse Syria. But this democratic opposition is going to be overwhelmed on the ground. A new force has entered the Syrian war: the Islamist militias. Paramilitary groups that have always opposed Bashar al-Assad's Alawite clan and recruit from the country's Sunni population. There were Islamist opponents who wanted to take revenge on a power that had repressed

them. These militias were financed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, opportunistic neighbors who wanted to take advantage of the prevailing chaos to extend their influence in the region. Money and weapons quickly flowed to the Islamists. Syria became the rendezvous of the international jihad. Training camps were set up. In barely a year, militias became the main opposition force. Some, under the banner of al-Qaeda, are already at the gates of Damascus. Others claim to belong to the Islamic State. A new jihadist group born in Iraq is beginning to wreak havoc in the rest of the country. Our

goal is the conquest of Samarra. With your sincerity and submission to Almighty God, we will crush our adversaries under a thousand cannons. A growing threat that Bashar al-Assad knows how to use to his advantage. Since the start of the insurrection, he has ordered the release of dozens of jihadist detainees who have swelled the ranks of the militia. He does something incredible. He says to some, you opponents, go back to prison. And to others, a lot of thugs, criminals and a few hard-line, radicalized Islamists, you get out of prison. As it turned out, he freed a

whole series of people who largely fed the leaders of the jihadist movements. The rise of the Islamists will serve as a pretext for Bashar al-Assad to continue his bloody repression. He can now present himself as a bulwark against terrorism. The international and regional powers involved must stop arming and harboring terrorist groups. Syria has found an enemy. This isn't a revolution, it's terrorism. That's Bashar's logic. And he doesn't give a damn. He forgets to mention that it was he who freed some of them. That he's the one who provided everything necessary for terrorism to take hold.

But then, it's no longer Bashar al-Assad who oppresses his revolutionary people, it's Bashar al-Assad who saves his people from terrorism. No one in Paris is fooled. Under the guise of fighting terrorism, it is indeed the Syrian democratic opposition that Bashar al-Assad is destroying. François Hollande and his military staff were preparing a military intervention against the Syrian president. France would act as part of an American-led coalition. We're preparing the plans, the Americans, the British, the French and this Arab country or that. Who's going to do it? Who's going to attack in such and such a way?

But the threat of a Western attack does not frighten Bashar al-Assad. Quite the contrary, in fact. On August 21, the horror went one step further. A sarin gas bombing on the outskirts of Damascus killed more than 320 civilians. The use of chemical weapons was one of the limits set by the international community. And in particular by US President Barack Obama. Rapid investigations have established that it was unquestionably the regime. At the same time, we had prepared a number of things, but the plans are becoming clearer. And what are the plans? Plans for an attack on

Bashar. Not personally, individually. But to make him understand that he can't do it again with chemical weapons, and that he absolutely must negotiate. Coalition forces are about to intervene in Syria. But President Hollande received a phone call from the White House that changed everything. At the end of the afternoon, Obama called François Hollande. I was there. And President Obama begins with general considerations. Then he gets down to business. And even if he doesn't say he's flip-flopped, no, no. He says but it's more complicated. He says but it's more complicated than I thought and I want

to give myself a little time, etc. Well, well, well. It's quite clear that he's given up. Obviously, this kills the operation, since it was supposed to be a concerted effort. There was no question of us doing it alone. Obama didn't confirm the strike because he thought that if the regime collapsed, there might be Democrats for a while, but that in the end, they would be swept away by the Islamists. This American about-face will allow another great power to take the upper hand. Vladimir Putin's Russia. Russia has been a staunch ally of Syria since the 1970s.

Along with Iran, it is the only country to have supported Bashar al-Assad since the start of the civil war. Mr. Putin is a very tough man, but at the same time very intelligent. He understands that Obama's failure to intervene, despite his commitment to do so, means that the Russians can move forward. The Russian president then tried his hand at diplomatic poker. If the main problem is chemical weapons, he may have a solution that does not require military intervention against Bashar al-Assad. Vladimir Putin took Bashar al-Assad by the scruff of the neck and told him "you're

going to liquidate your chemical arsenal, so you're going to come out on top". A month later, the Russian president's plan was presented to the UN. The Syrian president did indeed undertake to destroy his chemical arsenal. The Western coalition, which had already renounced military intervention, had no choice but to accept. And the Americans have realized that it may also be in their interest to move in this direction. In favor of the resolution, please raise your hand. The resolution was adopted unanimously. Russia made a comeback on the international scene, and Vladimir Putin established himself as the new

arbiter of the Syrian conflict. Given the failure of American, French and high-level policy in Syria, the West is now out of the picture. In fact, we no longer hold any cards. It's all up to the Russians, and to some extent the Iranians. But the big winner in this crisis exit is Bashar al-Assad. 8 months later, one of Syria's longest-serving presidents begins his third term in office. I swear before God to respect the country's Constitution, its laws and its republican system. It's a ceremony in disguise, because after 3 years of civil war, he's no longer really

in charge of Syria. The Russians and Iranians hold the regime at arm's length, and on all fronts, the Islamist threat continues to advance. By the end of summer 2015, Bashar al-Assad no longer controlled more than a third of his country. Daesh is at the height of its power, and has made Raqqa in the north the capital of its caliphate. Even the Assad family's home region, a stronghold once considered impregnable, is surrounded by jihadists. Latakia, the capital of the Alawite country, is under clear threat from the rebels up on the mountain, who could come down and

wreak havoc. Even Damascus is under threat. Bashar al-Assad owes his survival solely to the massive bombardment by the Russian army and the fighters on the ground, financed by Iran, which protects him from the Syrian rebels. He can no longer exercise his power because foreign forces far more powerful than he are are present in Syria. Nor can he profit from his money - he has lost everything. And his name will go down in history as the man who destroyed Syria. Bashar al-Assad has been locked up in his presidential palace for months, and is now nothing more

than a phantom president at the head of a country in ruins. Entire towns have been razed to the ground. Between 300 and 400,000 Syrians have died, and 6 million people - a quarter of the population - have fled into exile. Never in their history - and Damascus is the world's oldest capital - have Syrians had to face such a situation. In April 2017, a new chemical weapons bombing attributed to the Syrian regime killed at least 87 people and injured hundreds more in the rebel town of Khan Sheikhoun. In retaliation, US President Donald Trump sends 59

Tomahawk missiles to destroy a Syrian army air base. A symbolic strike that will have no effect on either the outcome of the conflict or the fate of Bashar al-Assad. I think that in his imagination, he must think that he'll be there again tomorrow because the stars have been favorable to him and there can be yet another turnaround. In October 2017, the Islamic State lost the cities of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, its last two strongholds in Syria. This Daesh retreat offers a new respite for the Syrian president, but for how long? In practice, the uprising has

shown us that the Syrian regime cannot be maintained as it is. The future of Syria, if we manage to reconcile its various components, will have to involve national unity. If divisions persist, Syria will remain in a state of permanent conflict. Clans at war, endless revenge, and Syria will disappear. There comes a time when Syria must grow up or be buried. It's as simple as that. We don't know yet, it's terrible. We're watching in real time the gestation of a future state or the death of an old one. We don't know yet, as it hasn't been

decided yet.