Brussels: NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen dismissed presidential elections in Syria as a "farce" Tuesday, saying they did not meet international standards. "The Syrian presidential election is a farce," Rasmussen said as he went into a NATO defence ministers meeting. The vote "does not fullfil international standards for free, fair and transparent elections and I am sure no (NATO) ally will recognise the outcome of these so-called elections," he said.
President Bashar al-Assad is expected to win a crushing victory over two little known challengers in the elections which the Syrian opposition have also condemned as a "farce."
There was no voting in the roughly 60 percent of the country outside the control of Assad`s government, which includes large areas of second city Aleppo.
The latest figures put the number of dead in the Syrian conflict at more than 160,000, with no end seemingly in sight.