DAMASCUS: When Bashar Al-Assad succeeded his late father as president of Syria six years ago, he was 34, lacked experience and looked uncomfortable at the helm.

The mild-mannered ophthalmologist who was plunged into politics after his elder brother died in a car crash in 1994 has since learnt the complex ways of Syrian politics, extending his control over the system and removing most of the old guard from his father’s era, diplomats and Baath party members say.

Assad, however, has seen Syria’s strategic position weaken and its isolation grow, especially since the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri in Beirut last year.

The assassination of the Lebanese-Saudi politician forced Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and raised US pressure on the country to change its anti-Israeli stance and its policies regarding Lebanon and Iraq.

Except for tightening Syria’s border with Iraq, which Washington says is a transit route for foreign fighters bent on attacking US-led forces, Assad has barely budged.

Syria still hosts exiled leaders of the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and backs Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerillas. Assad has reinforced links with Iran, even as tension with the West mounts over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Domestically, Assad seems under less pressure than a year ago, but he has yet to liberalise the command economy in line with modest reforms elsewhere in the region or to embrace political tolerance — promises he made when he came to power.

“No Arab leader enjoyed as much support and had so much hope pinned on him as Bashar six years ago, but his priority has been survival of the regime, and the regional situation did not encourage him to do fundamental reform,” said Jihad Al-Yazigi, editor of the Syria Report newsletter.—Reuters