Middle East dictators' sons - in pictures

Gamal Mubarak, Egypt: Egyptians have long assumed that President Hosni Mubarak, 82, who came to power in 1981 after the assassination of Anwar Sadat, is planning to transfer power to his son Gamal. Both of them deny it. Gamal, a western-trained banker, is deputy secretary general of his dad’s ruling National Democratic party. But unlike his father he has no military constituency and little experience of public office – and, like his father, lacks popular support. Reports in recent days that Gamal boarded a private jet in Cairo with 100 pieces of luggage and fled to London appear to be wishful thinking. But with presidential elections due later this year, such hostile rumours underscore the extreme difficulty that Hosni Mubarak will face if he tries to foist his son on to an unreceptive Egypt Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

Saif al-Islam Gadafy, Libya: The country’s leader, Muammar Gadafy, seized power in a coup d’etat in 1969. He is widely reported to be cultivating his son, Saif al-Islam Gadafy, as his successor – although there is no indication that Muammar is ready to hand over yet. Gadafy Snr, famous for his 'little green book', his penchant for pitching a Bedouin tent at international summits and his bizarre overtures to Italian womanhood, will be a hard act to follow. But Saif has gained a reputation as the contact man for western governments and businesses wanting to do build relations with energy-rich Libya – he reportedly persuaded his dad to scrap Libya’s secret WMD programme. He faces a possible rival to the throne in his brother: Mutassim Gadafy, Libya's national security adviser, who has an eclectic taste in brown suits Photograph: Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images

Sakher el-Materi, Tunisia: This month's 'jasmine revolution' appears to have been inspired in part by popular hatred of the avaricious ways of the family of the deposed president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, and in particular his son-in-law, Sakher el-Materi, married to Ben Ali’s daughter, Nesrine. American diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks described the 'great wealth and excess' surrounding Materi, symbolised by a large tiger named Pasha kept in a cage in his Tunis home. Materi was widely tipped as successor to Ben Ali before the revolution. He fled to Dubai. No one knows what happened to Pasha Photograph: Fethi Belaid/AFP

Bashar al-Assad, Syria: Not for the first time, Syrians appear to have missed the boat by supinely acquiescing in the 2000 transfer of power from their long-serving president, Hafez al-Assad, to his London-trained, gawky opthalmologist son Bashar. The Lion of Damascus, as Hafez was known, cut a powerful and influential figure on the Middle Eastern stage, feared and admired by friends and enemies alike. Bashar has proved a poor substitute, messing up in Lebanon in 2005-6, humiliated repeatedly by the Israelis (who bombed his mystery 'nuclear' plant in 2007) and blowing hot and cold over Barack Obama’s clumsy attempts to kiss and make up. Bashar is a good reason why dynastic succession is a bad idea. But that does not mean it won’t stretch to a third generation. Bashar and his London-born wife had a son in 2001. They named him Hafez, after his granddad Photograph: Khaled Al Hariri/Reuters

Ahmed Saleh, Yemen: The son of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh and head of the Republican Guard looks well placed to follow his father into the presidential palace in Sana’a. Except the Yemeni public, unconsulted until now, appears deeply unimpressed and may yet scupper any succession plan. Many thousands have spent recent days in large-scale protests demanding the government resign. 'We will not accept anything less than the president leaving,' said an independent MP, Ahmed Hashid. Saudi Arabia could get crowded at this rate. A rattled Saleh Snr insists he has no intention of passing the baton to his son. That may be just as well. The ways things are going in Yemen - which faces a separatist movement in the south, tribal warfare in the north, and Iranian, Saudi, al-Qaida and US meddling - there may soon be no country left to rule. Hillary Clinton showed up there last week to help. As if Saleh & Son didn’t have enough problems Photograph: Khaled Fazaa/AFP