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DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Polling stations opened on Wednesday across Syria in a presidential election that is set to usher Bashar al-Assad into a fourth term in office. The government says the election shows Syria is functioning normally despite a decade-old war, but the opposition and Western nations view it as merely rubber-stamping Assad s grip on power. Assad is running against two obscure candidates. In Damascus University s Faculty of Arts hundreds of students lined up to vote, with several buses parked outside. We came to elect president Bashar al-Assad.without him Syria would not be Syria, Amal, a nursing student, said. With our blood and soul we sacrifice our lives for you Bashar, other students chanted ahead of the opening of the polling station. Assad first took power in 2000 on the death of his father Hafez, who had ruled for 30 years before that. Assad s rule has been defined by a decade-long war that erupted after peaceful protests against his authoritarian rule in 2011. The c

United statesUnited kingdomAbdallah saloumMaha el dahanMichael perryMahmoud ahmed mareiClarence fernandezBashar al assadDamascus university faculty of artsDamascus universityReporting by kinda makiehWriting by maha el dahanNational securityHuman rightsCivil unrestஒன்றுபட்டது மாநிலங்களில்