Damascus - Bashar alAssad was officially proclaimed Syria's 16th president for a seven-year term by parliament yesterday and will be sworn in on July 17th.
Bashar won an overwhelming 97.29 percent of the votes in Monday's referendum, becoming Syria's 16th president at the age of 34.
The announcement drew a storm of applause from the 242 MPs present, who stood up
and shouted in unison: "with our soul, with our blood, we shall redeem you, Bashar."
Bashar succeeds his father Hafez al-Assad who died last month.
