article_snippet.sent: Mr al-Assad, 77, went into exile in Europe after staging a failed coup against his brother Hafez al Assad, who was Syria's president at the time and is also Bashar's father.
article_snippet.sent: Heart of the regime: Rifaat al-Assad (left) is pictured with President Francois Mitterrand brother, the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, in 1984 before President Francois Mitterrand exile from the country .
article_snippet.sent: : Activists say Rifaat al-Assad (pictured in 1984, left), who is the uncle of current Syrian President Bashar (right), stole money from the country while operating at the heart of the country government .
article_snippet.sent: Mr Al-assad commanded Syria's notorious internal security forces in the 1970s and early 1980s.
article_snippet.sent: Syria's notorious internal security forces carried out the bloody Hama massacre in 1982, which crushed a small Islamist uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 civilians in the process, according to Amnesty International.
article_snippet.sent: Pictured during regime:
article_snippet.sent: Rifaat al-Assad (right) is seen with Rifaat al-Assad (right brother Hafez (left) and Syrian politician Abdel Halim Khaddam (centre)
highlights_snippet.sent: Rifaat, 77, is brother of late Hafez al Assad - Syria's president for 29 years .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Rifaat al Assad headed notorious internal security forces during 1982 Hama massacre .
  