
Syrian National Council's first congress
Bassma Kodmani, Burhan Ghalioun and Haitham al-Maleh, all seated, at the Syrian National Council's first congress in Tunis in December 2011.

A Free Syrian Army fighter prepares to shot an RPG on the Syrian Army in Homs

An opposition demonstration in Homs in February 2012

A French drawing depicting Damascus in 1920

Former Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad

Billboard with portrait of Bashshar al-Asad and the text "God protects Syria" on the old city wall of Damascus in 2006

Current Syrian President Bashshar al-Asad

A Syrian spray-paints "Down with Bashshar" on a city wall during the 2011 uprising

A pro-Asad student rally at Tishreen University in Latakia

Demonstrators in Cairo support the Syrians against al-Asad's government in February 2012

The Free Syrian Army's coat of arms

Hama after the February 1982 confrontation between the Muslim Brothers and the Ba'thi regime
'Abd al-Halim Khaddam, former Syrian vice president and leader of the National Salvation Front

Aleppo, the largest city in Syria

The city of Hama is historically an Islamist stronghold in Syria
Source: photo by Effi Schweizer