Russia’s foreign policy in areas of the Arab world and Africa where the Soviets once wielded significant influence decades ago has become increasingly assertive in recent years. One such area is Sudan, a pro-Soviet country from 1969, when Gaafar Nimeiri took power, until the communist-backed coup of 1971.
Picking up the pieces in Gaza; the uneasy, uncertain peace between Israel and Hamas; PLO and Hamas still can’t find common ground; Russia on the diplomatic sidelines; desert kingdom looks to build forest; and more!
Siria vota en unas elecciones previsibles elmundo.es - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from elmundo.es Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tuesday, 25 May, 2021 - 08:45
Banners and posters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a street in Damascus before the elections (AFP) Beirut - London - Asharq Al-Awsat
Syria will hold Wednesday its second presidential elections since the outbreak of the conflict, and they are all but certain to deliver a fourth term for President Bashar al-Assad a fourth term.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mikdad said that the presidential elections are “thousands of times better” than in the US, which he described as “a farce.”
Mikdad described the voting processes in Syria’s embassies as “very remarkable” and having an “atmosphere of freedom and democracy” in which Syrians expressed “their views with great precision and freedom.”
Syria s predictable polls: A pledge of allegiance to Assad
By AFP - May 25,2021 - Last updated at May 25,2021
People walk next to election campaign billboards depicting Syrian President Bashar Assad, a candidate for the upcoming presidential vote, in the capital Damascus, on Monday (AFP photo)
BEIRUT President Bashar Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for over half a century, faces an election on Wednesday meant to cement his image as the only hope for recovery in the war-battered country, analysts say.
His campaign slogan, Hope through Work , evokes the reconstruction of a country ravaged by a decade-long conflict that has claimed more than 388,000 lives and displaced half of Syria s pre-war population.