As David Cameron declares the UK would support a "safe passage" for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, if it was to stop the the bloodshed in the country, what has history taught us about how a country fares once a dictator has flown the coop.
Not every dictator meets a bloody end, dragged through the streets by a murder-minded mob, like Colonel Gaddafi. Many evil dictators has lived out their old age in relative comfort, from Hawaii, to France to Saudi Arabia - and even in London.
Here are some of the world's most brutal dictators and hated leaders - who live in luxury, or managed to die in their own beds.