2000-2010

Syrian tenor and MP Sabah Fakhri at the swearing-in ceremony of President Bashar al-Assad in 2000
From left to right: Speaker of Parliament Abdul Qader Qaddura, President Bashar al-Assad, Sabah Fakhri. From the archives of Sabah Fakhri.

President Bashar al-Assad attending the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris on July 14, 2008
From left to right: Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa Al Thani, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Frenck President Nicolas Sarkozy, Egyptian President Husni Mubarak, Finnish President Tarja Halonen, President Assad.

President Bashar al-Assad visiting Iran's Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in August 2005
Seated next to President Assad is Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and second from left is Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara

President Bashar al-Assad with ex-US President Jimmy Carter at the ancient city of Maaloula in December 2008
The two presidents are walking at mountain pass of St. Taqla convent, during a visit to the historic city of Maaloula, 56 km to the northeast of Damascus, on December 14, 2008

Arab leaders assembled in Paris in July 2008
Left to right: President Bashar al-Assad, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Qatari President Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman

President Bashar al-Assad attending Bastille Day in Paris in July 2008
From left to right: Qatari Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, President Assad, Egyptian President Husni Mubarak

President Bashar al-Assad having dinner in Old Damascus with US Senator John Kerry in January 2009
The dinner is at the Narenj Restaurant in Midhat Pasha. Seated accross the table are Senator Kerry, his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, and President Assad. Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad's back is to the camera.

Presidents Bashar al-Assad and Mahmud Ahmadinejad at Damascus Airport in 2005
This photo was taken shortly after Ahmadinejad's election as president of Iran.

President Bashar al-Assad in Ankara with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezar in January 2004
This was the first visit by a Syrian President to Turkey in 57-years.