Assad vows to retake Syrian territory in fourth term as president

SYRIAN PRESIDENT Bashar Assad has been sworn in for a fourth seven-year term in the war-torn country, pledging to overcome the impact of western economic sanctions and retake territory still out of his control after 10 years of fighting.

Even as the swearing-in ceremony was held at the presidential palace, attended by clergymen, political figures, army officers and other supporters, activists reported that government shelling in the last rebel enclave in the north-west killed at least six people, including three children and their grandmother.

Mr Assad’s re-election in May in a landslide was never in doubt, and was described by the West and Syria’s opposition as illegitimate and a sham.

Having been in power since 2000, his new term starts with a country still devastated by war and sliding deeper into an economic crisis.

Accused by European and the US governments for most of the war’s atrocities, Mr Assad has faced widening sanctions that also target his close aides and state institutions.

Mr Assad said in his inaugural speech that all his concerns are about “liberating the land and confronting the economic and social ramifications of the war”.

“Making things better is possible, certainly possible,” he said, speaking for over an hour.

“War and siege didn’t close the doors completely... we can get through them. We just have to know how to.”

The UN estimates that more than 80 per cent of Syrians live under the poverty line. The Syrian currency has been losing value and basic services and resources are scarce or offered at exorbitant parallel market prices.