Cyprus - The Syrian President, Mr Hafez al-Assad, has been confirmed in a fifth seven-year term by referendum, a popular consultation patterned on those held in the era of one-party Soviet-style governments.
The 68-year-old incumbent was the sole candidate and won an approval rating of over 99.98 per cent, the tiniest notch down from 99.99 per cent he received in the December 1991 referendum. Mr Assad's new term begins on March 13th. Observers believe that 80-90 per cent of Syria's 8.6 million registered voters went to the polls. Some 700,000 Syrian nationals resident in Lebanon, mostly manual labourers, also took part in the poll, casting their votes at 36 voting booths set up around the country. This normalisation of the Syrian presence in Lebanon displeased right-wing Christian opponents and other critics of Damascus's strong political and military influence in the country. Syria has deployed a force of 35,000 troops in Lebanon since the civil war ended in 1990.