The fall and rise of Bashar and Asma Assad.

Over the weekend, Syrian President Bashar Assad left his country and sought refuge in Russia, marking the end of a 14-year struggle to maintain power in the midst of a civil war that transformed into an international and regional battleground.

The Assad people discovered through news of war in Syria that their leader was not the person they expected when he first came to power.

Rise to Power

Bashar Assad, the current ruler of Syria, was brought back from his ophthalmology practice in London and underwent military training after his oldest brother Basil was killed in a car crash in 1994. Hafez Assad, Bashar's father, had been grooming Basil as his successor.

Nearly 30 years, Hafez governed Syria and created a centralized economy in the Soviet style. He formed an alliance with Iran's Shiite clerical leadership, secured Syrian control over Lebanon, and established a network of militant groups, including Palestinians and Lebanese.

In 2000, after Hafez passed away, the parliament of the country reduced the age requirement to become president from 40 to 34. Through a nationwide referendum, Bashar was elected as the president, being the only candidate.

Bashar initially appeared to be the opposite of his father. When he came to power, he spoke with a slight lisp, was tall and lanky, quiet, and had a gentle demeanor. Prior to becoming president, his only official position was the head of the Syrian Computer Society, leading people to believe he was a tech-savvy geek with a gentle demeanor.

Bashar also freed political prisoners and allowed more open discourse.

Syria's Princess Diana?

Bashar, who had been in office for several months, later married Asma al-Akhras, a British-born woman known for her attractiveness and style. The couple eventually welcomed three children into their family.

Unlike other Arab leaders, the couple resided in an apartment in the affluent area of Abu Rummaneh in Damascus, rather than a mansion.

Asma, a Syrian-born woman from Acton, West London, who was raised by Sunni Muslim parents from Homs, gained fame as Syria's Princess Diana.

She earned degrees in computer science and French literature from Queen's College London and subsequently pursued a career in banking, serving as a hedge funds analyst.

In 2000, when Bashar was 35 and she was 25, she secretly married him in a wedding.

As Bashar continued to rule, things began to change.

Changing Directions

In 2005, Bashar's control over neighboring Lebanon came to an end after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Many in Lebanon accused Bashar of being behind the murder. As a result, Syria was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and a pro-American government came to power.

The Arab world was divided into two groups during the same period: one side was backed by the United States and included Sunni-led countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while the other side consisted of Syria and Iran, along with their connections to Hezbollah and Palestinian militants.

Asma was entrusted with key roles by Bashar, who also appointed family members to important positions.

In 2011, rulers in Tunisia and Egypt were overthrown by protesters, while Bashar believed it was unlikely to happen in Syria.

While Bashar denied facing a popular revolt, his security forces staged a brutal crackdown, and he instead blamed "foreign-backed terrorists" for trying to destabilize his regime.

With millions of Syrians fleeing to various countries, the civil war caused by the uprising spread across the region and into Europe.

In March 2011, Vogue magazine published a profile on Asma, describing her as a "Rose in the Desert" and "the very freshest and most magnetic of first ladies." The article, which portrayed the Assads as "wildly democratic" and "progressive," was based on an interview conducted in late 2010. However, the article was pulled from the internet weeks after its publication, as Assad's bloody crackdown on Syrian dissidents was well under way.

After our interview, as the events in Syria unfolded, it became clear that Vogue's priorities and values were different from those of Syria. Anna Wintour, the magazine's editor-in-chief, made this statement.

Lavish Spending

In 2012, Wikileaks released private emails of a 42-year-old Brit who spent $350,000 on 130 pieces of furniture amidst the country's one-year civil war.

The published emails reportedly revealed that she bought a pair of $7,000 shoes with crystal-encrusted heels and had them shipped to Dubai to circumvent sanctions.

The mansion, designed by Kenzo Tange and commissioned in 1979, is estimated to have cost $1 billion.

In 1989, the Washington Post reported that a single room was adorned with 125,000 Italian marble tiles at a cost of $85 per tile, resulting in a total cost of approximately $10.6 million for the room.

On the day her husband is suspected of using sarin gas on civilians in Khan Sheikhoun, Asma shared a photo of herself in a stylish polka-dotted dress, appearing contemplative and smiling.

Asma's social media posts portrayed her as a humanitarian, featuring images of the first lady reading to children and hugging the family of a Syrian who was killed in the country's civil war – all with the endearing hashtag #WeLoveYouAsma.

The contrast between the photos and those on news channels showing Syrian children lying dead in the streets after being poisoned by gas released by her husband, the dictator, is stark.

In May, it was reported that Asma, the wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had been diagnosed with leukemia and had to temporarily withdraw from public life.

At the time, Bashar's office issued a statement stating that Asma was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and would follow a specialized treatment plan that included strict infection prevention measures.

The bone marrow and blood contain aggressive cancer cells in acute myeloid leukemia.

Asma was previously been treated for breast cancer.

This report was contributed to by Timothy H.J. Nerozzi of Planet Chronicle Digital and The Associated Press.