But then, urged on by his family and closest advisers, he took the fateful decision to crush Homs, parts of which were in open revolt. He was following the example of his father, President Hafez Assad, who in 1982 smashed a Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the nearby city of Hama and killed an estimated 30,000 people. It was one of the worst massacres in modern Middle East history, but it ensured there was no serious opposition to the regime for nearly 30 years.