Rebel fighters who stormed Bashar Al-Assad’s palaces and properties across Syria after toppling his regime have exposed the dictator’s lavish lifestyle and collection of highly personal photos to the world.
Footage shows Syrians triumphantly strolling through his mansions, uncovering the lives of luxury that he and his family enjoyed while millions of people suffered under his brutal regime.
One of his palaces, high in the hills above Damascus, was also toured by journalists who noted its extravagant decor, amenities like a barber’s salon and jacuzzi, and security fittings including bulletproof doors to his bedroom.
Meanwhile old photographs purportedly found during the ransacking of his homes show a young Assad in his underwear – images he would have never expected the eyes of the world to look upon but which have since been circulating on social media.
Unearthed family pictures belonging to the tyrant include one of him apparently on a hike, happily stood next to a cousin who is wearing a T-shirt depicting Adolf Hitler.
Another image, seemingly of a fancy dress party, show the former eye doctor wearing blackface dressed as a huntsman, toting a rifle as he grins for the camera.
The unbecoming pictures have been ridiculed by Syrians, who after decades of forced imprisonment, displacement and persecution under Assad and his father’s tyranny have hailed his deposition and exile as the start of a new era.
Assad’s houses, which appear to have been hurriedly abandoned by him, his family and his allies as the rebel fighters closed in, have been emptied of his remaining possessions by Syrians seeking vengeance.
One picture shows Assad in nothing but white pants and a vest, clearly posing for the camera
A jacuzzi is seen in one of Assad’s palaces – a hilltop residence outside Damascus
A picture believed to be showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wearing only speedos is taken by Rebels following the capture of his palace in Aleppo
Other eerie images show him in a khaki hunter costume with a gun and fur accessory, standing alongside friends who are also in costume
In another picture he appears to be on a balcony overlooking the sea, teasing a girl who is sat on his shoulders
The billionaire’s luxury belongings have been stripped from his residences, while furniture, documents, letters and other items have been strewn across the wrecked buildings.
Highly personal mementos, such as pictures of the deposed president at his wedding to British-born Asma Akhras, as well as the bizarre images of him in his youth, have been found among his belongings at his palace in Aleppo and in Damascus.
Rebel fighters who took Aleppo, Syria’s second-biggest city, in a lightning advance almost two weeks ago came across a photo of the former Syrian leader scantily clad as a young man.
The image shows Assad years before he inherited the presidency from his father, posing alongside three other people in swimsuits as they are perched on the side of a boat at night.
Writing on social media, one person captioned it: ‘A picture found in the palace of the idiot and criminal Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo.’
Another picture shows a young Assad in nothing but white pants and a vest, clearly posing for the camera as he leans against a kitchen counter and turns his head.
Other eerie images show him in a khaki hunter costume with a gun and fur accessory, standing alongside friends who are dressed as a cowboy and a soldier.
Wearing blackface, he stands alongside two other men who are dressed in culturally inappropriate costume.
A huge atrium with marble floors and high-end furnishings was left abandoned after Assad’s ousting this week
A large bedroom in one of the presidential palaces, located outside Damascus
The dated photos, seemingly from when the 59-year-old was a young man in the 80s and 90s, also show him posing in denim jean shorts and sunglasses.
In another picture he appears to be on a balcony overlooking the sea, teasing a girl who is sat on his shoulders who is clinging on to him as she tips backwards.
The pictures, along with the opulent houses they were found in, show the privileged lives the Assad family led in Syria, where many citizens live on around one dollar a day.
Assad’s wife Asma, a London-born doctor’s daughter who married into the dynasty in 2000, became accustomed to a life of luxury, with reports that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on home furnishings and clothes during her husband’s reign of terror.
The US state department estimates that the family are worth $2billion, with their wealth concealed in numerous accounts, shell companies, offshore tax havens and real estate portfolios.
Unearthed family pictures belonging to the tyrant include one of him apparently on a hike, happily stood next to a cousin who is wearing a T-shirt depicting Adolf Hitler
These photos appear to show the 59-year-old as a young man in the 80s and 90s
Pictures of the Assads’ abandoned homes have surfaced after a dramatic week which has seen opposition fighters take Damascus, sealing the stunning fall of the Syrian dictator’s brutal regime.
Following the capture of Damascus, Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group leading the rebel factions, said on Telegram that it was the end of a dark era.
Rebels reached the Syrian capital on Sunday for the first time since the region was recaptured by government troops in 2018, and immediately headed to Assad’s official and family residences, where looting was already taking place.
Pictures now show empty and smoke-blackened rooms around the Tishreen presidential palace, and yesterday rebel fighters sought revenge on the late president Hafez Al-Assad by setting fire to his grave.
His son and wider family have now left their homeland in disgrace and will begin a new life in exile, most likely without the luxuries they have become used to.