Syria's Assad struggles to follow in his father's footsteps

Bashar al-Assad, a 40-year-old trained ophthalmologist who became Syrian president literally by accident, is a leader Israelis love to scorn.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called him 'immature' and said Syria would be 'useless' in solving the current crisis in Lebanon. Israeli Vice-Premier Shimon Peres, referring to Mr Assad's cunning father Hafez, who ruled Syria from 1970 until his death in 2000, described him as 'the son of a wise leader'.

But with Israel proving unable to neutralise the fundamentalist Shi'ite Hezbollah, despite a more than three-week-old military onslaught in Lebanon, Mr Assad is increasingly being seen by some world leaders as possibly holding the key to reining in the power of Hezbollah, which Syria has armed and sponsored.

Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer called on Israel to consider relinquishing the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967, as part of a deal in which Syria would co-operate in disarming Hezbollah. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Syria needed to be included in any arrangements in Lebanon.

Analysts are divided over whether Mr Assad could use the fighting in Lebanon to redress some of the failures of his six years in office. His tenure started with hopes he would loosen Syria's authoritarian political system and allow for a more equal relationship with Lebanon, an area Syria viewed as its front yard during his father's rule.

But the brief 'Damascus Spring' that included prisoner releases after Mr Assad took power upon his father's death gave way to crackdowns, and the regime continued to rely on the security services.