- Polls have opened in Syria's government-held areas amid massive security
- Assad is expected to win but it's been denounced by critics as a sham
- The balloting comes amid a devastating, three-year civil war
- It's also Syria's first multi-candidate election in more than 40 years
- Two other candidates: Not well known and unable to have equal campaign
- Polls are expected to close at 7 p.m. tonight
- Reported barrel-bomb attack by government forces in Aleppo today
Polls have
opened in Syria's government-held areas amid massive security for the
country's presidential election, a vote Bashar Assad is widely expected
to win.
Today
as Assad and his British-born wife turned up in Damascus to cast their
vote, 250 miles away in Aleppo a man was seen carrying a little girl in
his arms after dozens of people were injured in a reported barrel-bomb
attack by government forces.
The
balloting, Syria's first multi-candidate election in more than 40
years, comes as a devastating, three-year civil war that activists say
has killed more than 160,000 people, about a third of them civilians,
rages on.
The
opposition and government critics have condemned the vote as a sham.
Syria's two main internal opposition groups are boycotting the vote
while many activists around the country refer to it as 'blood
elections'.
Syrian President Bashar Assad, centre, casts his
vote as Syrian first lady Asma Assad, right, stands next to him at a
polling station, in Damascus, Syria
A man carries a young girl who was injured in a reported barrel-bomb attack
A document
signed by the major revolutionary and military councils in the central
Hama province . and circulated by armed opposition groups speaks of
planned attacks reading: 'We warn the licentious regime that we are
going to burn the land under their feet,' reported The Telegraph.
Voting is taking place only in areas under government control, as much of northern and eastern Syria is in rebel hands.
Assad,
who is running for a third seven-year term, faces two
government-approved challengers in the race, Maher Hajjar and Hassan
al-Nouri, both of whom were little known in Syria before declaring their
candidacy for the country's top post in April.
Some 2,000 civilians, including more than 500
children, have been killed in regime air strikes on rebel-held areas of
Aleppo since January, many of them in barrel bomb attacks
People make their way amid rubble in a street
following the reported barrel-bomb attack by government forces in
Kallaseh district in the northern city of Aleppo
A Syrian man, wearing a shirt bearing current
President Bashar al-Assad's portrait, casts his ballot as he votes in
presidential election
A Syrian woman casts her ballot as she votes in presidential election
Tens of thousands of Syrians abroad voted last week, although many of the more than 2.7 million
Syrian refugees across the region either abstained or were excluded by voting laws.
In
the capital Damascus, security was tight with multiple rings of
checkpoints set up around the city and its entrances.
Troops searched
cars and asked people for their IDs.
In the Syrian capital, Damascus,
security was tight with multiple rings of checkpoints set up around the
city and its entrances. Troops searched cars and asked people for their
IDs.
Assad, who is running for a third seven-year
term, faces two government-approved challengers in the race, Maher
Hajjar and Hassan al-Nouri, both of whom were little known in Syria
before declaring their candidacy for the country's top post in April
Supporters of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad wave the national flags during the presidential election in Damascus
Supporters of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad
wave the country's national flags and chant slogans in front of the
General Federation of Trade Unions building
At a
polling station in the city's Dama Rose hotel, many voters refused to
go behind the curtain to vote in privacy, instead publicly circling
Assad's name.
At
the same station in central Damascus, a box with pins was available for
those who wanted to prick their finger and vote in blood - a symbolic
act of allegiance and patriotism.
Odai al-Jamounai, 18, said he voted with his blood 'to express by my love to my country and my leader.'
A man votes in Damascus earlier today
Electoral officials put up a poster of President Bashar Assad at a polling station in Damascus
Another
voter, 49-year-old merchant Ahmad Qadah, who has been living in Egypt
since fleeing the fighting in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, said
he came back four days ago to vote for Assad.
'He
is the most competent to lead the country,' Qadah said after casting
his ballot. 'We need a strong leader in these difficult times.'
At least three flights from Kuwait, chartered by an anonymous Syrian businessman, were to bring Syrian expats home to vote.
The
first flight landed in the morning hours with nearly 200 people,
according to an Associated Press crew at the Damascus International
Airport. The people said they would vote and then immediately fly back
to Kuwait.
A Syrian army soldier he holds a position in a building in Jobar, a mostly rebel-held area on the eastern outskirts of Damascus
A Syrian army soldier secures the entrance of a tunnel reportedly dug by rebels fighters in Jobar
Even as voting got under way in
government-controlled parts of the country, activists reported fighting,
shelling and air raids in rebel-held areas of Syria
But
even as voting got under way in government-controlled parts of the
country, activists reported fighting, shelling and air raids in
rebel-held areas of Syria.
In
the rebel-held central town of Rastan, which has been under attack by
government forces for more than two years, an activist who goes by the
name of Murhaf al-Zoubi said all the local residents 'want Assad to go.'
'There are no elections here, this is a free, liberated area,' al-Zoubi said.
The
Interior Ministry said there were 15.8 million eligible voters, both
inside and outside Syria, and that 9,600 voting centers have been set up
around the country.
Polls
were expected to close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening but the ministry
has said voting could be extended for five hours if there was a big
turnout.
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