Bashar appears in public marking Labour Day

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made an unexpected appearance on Wednesday at a public park in the capital Damascus to congratulate electricity workers on the occasion of Labor Day, local media reported. Al-Assad visited workers at the Umayyad Electricity Station, located in the huge Tishreen Park in Damascus, to mark Labor Day with the station's workers, the report said, spelling no further details of the visit. Al-Assad has made several surprising appearances during the country's two-year turmoil to show confidence as his family's 40- year rule has been seriously challenged by an unprecedented Western-backed rebellion. In his latest speeches, the embattled leader stressed that his country is facing a "real war" and that his administration has no choice but to win this war. Syria has been engulfed by violence since mid-March 2011, with deadly clashes between governmental forces and opposition fighters leaving thousands of people dead.