JERUSALEM, Feb. 9 (JTA) — Syrian President Hafez Assad
recently recovered from a two-week coma, a British newspaper reported this week. The 66-year-old Assad apparently collapsed in December, went into a coma and gained consciousness last month after being treated by Russian doctors flown into Damascus, The Sunday Times reported. At the time, Syrian officials had said Assad was hospitalized for prostate surgery. In recent years, Assad has suffered from heart problems, diabetes and a rare form of leukemia. His ailing health has resulted in a campaign to groom his son Basher to be his successor. Basher’s older brother, Basel, was killed in a car accident three years ago.
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