Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s iron-fisted president

Assad matter-of-course win in Wednesday’s poll, the second in a decade, is a slap in the face of foreign and domestic opponents.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has overseen one of the century’s bloodiest conflicts, . With his campaign slogan, “Hope through work”, Mr. Assad cast himself as the sole architect of a reconstruction phase for the war-ravaged country. His matter-of-course win in Wednesday’s poll, the second in a decade, is a slap in the face of foreign and domestic opponents.