Top 10: Dictators who ruled the longest
 

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Muammar Gaddafi
As Egypt boils, we take a look at some of the world's longest ruling autocrats. First on our list is Muammar Gaddafi who has been the de facto leader of Libya since a coup in 1969.

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Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe is the second and current President of Zimbabwe. One of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power as the head of government since 1980, as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987, and as the first executive head of state since 1987.

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Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is the former President of the Tunisian Republic. He held the office from 7 November, 1987, until he was forced to step down and flee the country on 14 January, 2011. Ben Ali was appointed Prime Minister in October 1987, and assumed the Presidency in November 1987 in a bloodless coup from then President Habib Bourguiba, who was declared incompetent.

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Hosni Mubarak
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is the fourth and current President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. He was appointed Vice President in 1975, and assumed the Presidency on October 14, 1981, following the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat. He is the longest-serving Egyptian ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha.

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Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad is the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party, and the son of former President Hafez al-Assad. Al-Assad was confirmed as president by an unopposed referendum in 2001.