26 June, 2017
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday made an unusual visit to the central city of Hama in order to perform the prayers of the Eid ul-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Justice Minister Hisham Mohammad al-Shaar said "this initiative seeks to enhance local reconciliations and allowing those were misled to return to their normal lives, hoping that others who were led astray would return to their senses".
Since 2015, the Syrian civil war has been pointed towards Assad's favor, who has Russian support and assistance by air, as well as Lebanese and Iranian Shiite forces on the ground.
Since the war began in 2011, it has killed hundreds of thousands, driven millions more from their homes, sparked a global refugee crisis and drawn in regional and world powers.
Yet, despite all this, the conflict is still far from being solved as the rebel forces still hold large parts of Syria.
As recently as March, rebels advanced from Idlib province to within a few kilometres of Hama, before the army and its allies pushed them back in weeks of fierce fighting. "Victory is a few steps away", claimed Assad's men, who were 185 km outside the president's safety zone in Damascus.
Assad's last public appearance outside Damascus was during Eid al-Fitr in July 2016, which he spent in third city Homs.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State militants pardoned by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northern town of Tabqa and the city of Raqqa had "no blood on their hands".
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with RIA Novosti and Sputnik in this handout picture provided by SANA on April 21, 2017, Syria.