Syria TV Shows Images of Assad with New Defense Minister
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syrian state television broadcast images on Thursday of President Bashar Assad in a meeting with the new defense minister, Fahd al-Freij.
This was the first public sighting of Assad since a bomb attack in Damascus on Wednesday killed three top regime officials, including Freij's predecessor, Daoud Rajha.
In the images, blue-clad Assad watches the swearing-in ceremony of Freij, who is in full military costume.
The broadcast came amid speculation of the president's whereabouts -- fed by Assad's silence -- after the killing of three of his closest aides.
19 July 2012, 21:20
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Forget China.
And forget Russia.
The Arab world has been rebuked now for the third time.
How many more would it take to realize that these countries are not their friends; that they feel none of the Arab pain.
As for the rest of us, it is time to see China and Russia as the totalitarian regimes they really are. Inherently, they cannot play a responsible role in the world community. And we should limit our business and political dealings with them accordingly.
