FILE - Syrian President Bashar Assad reviews the presidential guard during the welcoming ceremony in Athens, Dec. 15, 2003. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
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A combo of file photos shows Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, on Aug. 19, 2009, in Tehran, Iran, and his father, former Syrian President Hafez Assad, on Dec. 1, 1972, in an unknown location. (AP Photo)
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FILE - President-elect Lt. Gen. Bashar al Assad, right, attends military training games with Ali Aslan, Chief of Staff of the Syrian army, July 12, 2000, in Syria. (SANA via AP, File)
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FILE - Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, shakes hands with Pope John Paul II before the Pontiff boards a plane after a four-day visit to Syria in Damascus, May 8, 2001. (AP Photo/Enric Marti, File)
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FILE - Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and his wife Asma are greeted by Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair outside his 10 Downing Street, London residence, Dec.16, 2002, on the start of their official visit to Britain. (AP Photo/Max Nash, File)
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