Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited the Umuayyad Electrical Station, a power hub near the city of Damascus, in a rare public appearance broadcasted on Syria's state television channel.
The broadcast featured Assad in conversation with the staff on International Workers Day, also known as May Day, May 1. The state-run Facebook page bore similar images of a calm, interested Assad, clad in a black suit and tie. The President shook hands with workers as he stood with them in a garden.
The president's visit came just one day after a hugely powerful bomb struck Damascus, the capital of Syria, killing at least 14. This is the second attack in the capital in the span of two days, amidst a civil war that has been raging on for more than two years.
According to Fox, opposition forces who seek to overthrow the Assad regime have made attempts to solidify a supply line from Jordan. This will allow weapons purchased in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to be shipped into the city covertly for the rebel groups.
Shiite group Hezbollah is believed to back the Syrian government against the primarily Sunny rebels battling to topple Assad.
Assad is a member of the Alawite minority religious sect.
Hezbollah has been urged multiple times by rebel coalitions to stay out of the Syrian war, urging the Lebanese to "control its borders and urgently stop, through all available means, the military operations attributed to Hezbollah in areas close to the Syrian border."
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned opposition groups that their efforts are in vain, and that his coalition is willing to step in on Assad's side.
"You will not be able to take Damascus by force and you will not be able to topple the regime militarily. This is a long battle," Nasrallah said.
Some are admonishing Assad for his recent television appearance, claiming bad taste.
But Assad is not interested in such commentary, evidently. Those that oppose his government maintain that he is responsible for the 70,000 plus deaths that have struck Syria since 2011. He hasn't let up since, and has displayed no plans to cease fire, they say.
