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Syrian President Assad sworn in for 3rd term

Syrians carry foodstuff as they return to the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Moadamiyeh, following the entry of some 13 Syrian Red Crescent trucks loaded with 1000 food parcels under the supervision of the U.N., the Red Crescent and in coordination with the Syrian government, near Damascus, Syria, Monday, July 14, 2014. A year's blockade on Moadamiyeh resulted in widespread hunger-related illness and death among its residents. The move came hours before an expected Security Council vote on a U.N. resolution that would authorize cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid to Syrians in desperate need of food and medicine. (AP Photo) Syrians carry foodstuff as they return to the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Moadamiyeh, following the entry of some 13 Syrian Red Crescent trucks loaded with 1000 food parcels under the supervision of the U.N., the Red Crescent and in coordination with the Syrian government, near Damascus, Syria, Monday, July 14, 2014. A year's blockade on Moadamiyeh resulted in widespread hunger-related illness and death among its residents. The move came hours before an expected Security Council vote on a U.N. resolution that would authorize cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid to Syrians in desperate need of food and medicine. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press July 16, 2014 1 min read

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – Syrian President Bashar Assad has been sworn in, marking the beginning of his third seven-year term in office.

State TV broadcast what it said was a live ceremony on Wednesday from the presidential palace in Damascus during which Assad took the oath of office.

Assad was seen placing his hand on Islam’s holy book, the Quran, pledging to honor the country’s constitution in front of a large audience of parliament members and Muslim and Christian clergymen.

Assad was re-elected last month in a landslide victory amid a civil war in a vote dismissed by the opposition and its Western allies as a sham.

He won 88.7 percent of the ballots cast in the first multicandidate elections in decades. The voting didn’t take place in areas engulfed in fighting.