Obsessed with mobile games, Assad ignored allies' help — The Atlantic

In the final days of his presidency, former Syrian leader Bashar Assad spent his time playing mobile games, ignoring offers of assistance from allied countries, American journalist Robert Worth said in an article for The Atlantic.

Worth interviewed dozens of officers and visitors to the presidential palace in Damascus, painting a picture of the last weeks of Assad’s time in power, Caliber.Az cites the article.

"A detached ruler, obsessed with sex and video games, refused every lifeline he was offered," Worth writes.

The author writes that Assad "probably could have saved his regime at any time in the past few years if he hadn’t been so stubborn and vain."

"[...] it was not geopolitics that doomed the regime. None of the countries in the region wanted Assad to fall, and several of them offered him lifelines. If he had taken hold of them, he would almost certainly be sitting in the palace now. Even in the final days, foreign ministers were calling, offering deals. He didn’t answer. He appears to have been sulking, angered by the suggestion that he might have to give up the throne," Worth said.

According to sources, governments including Russia, Türkiye, and Iran attempted to help Assad maintain control even in the closing days of his regime. However, Assad ignored calls and preferred mobile games over intense negotiations.

The situation highlights how chaotic and isolated the final phase of Assad’s rule in Syria was.

By Khagan Isayev