Leading Syrian scholar says President Bashar al-Assad released hard line jihadists from prison knowing they would join the opposition and fight against him because he cannot survive without them as propaganda shield

In spite of a devastating civil war that has left over 150,000 dead, 6 million displaced and over 9.3 million Syrians in need of immediate life saving support President Bashar al-Assad will hold Presidential elections next Sunday. Buoyed by recent military gains, Assad is seeking a third seven year term in an attempt to continue the 44 year tyrannical rule of the Assad family. The opposition have called them “Blood Elections’ and are holding an International Day of Protest this Saturday. Against a backdrop of International indifference together with the deepening humanitarian and political crisis that threatens the region, it’s hard to be optimistic about the future of Syria. The determination of China, Iran and Russia to continue supporting the Assad regime means that this conflict shows no sign of being resolved. So what now for Syria? this was one of the issues raised and discussed in a recent lecture given by the distinguished scholar Dr Thomas Pierret of the University of Edinburgh. In a recent visit to Dublin he met with the journalism students at Griffith College. He began his presentation with an analysis of why the Geneva I and Geneva 2 peace talks were doomed to failure.Dr Thomas Pierrot is a lecturer in Contemporary Islam Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies(IMES) University of Edinburgh.Dr Pierrot was brought to Dublin by the Irish Syrian Solidarity Campaign An Esperanza Production presented by Anne Daly, award winning filmmaker, journalist and lecturer in broadcast journalism.