Bashar al-Assad wins re-election by landslide despite complaints of illegitimacy

DAMASCUS, Syria, June 4 (UPI) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won re-election amid criticism by western nations that the election was "a sham".

Speaker of the People's Assembly, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, announced the electoral results on Wednesday, declaring Assad the winner with 88.7 percent of the votes.

The two other presidential candidates, Dr. Hassan Abdullah al-Nouri and Maher Abdul-Hafiz Hajjar, were not considered true contenders. Al-Nouri claimed 4.3 percent and Hajjar 3.2 percent of the votes in Tuesday's election.

British Foreign Office Minister Mark Simmonds described the holding of presidential elections in the midst of a bloody and protracted civil war as an attempt by President Bashar al-Assad "to sustain his dictatorship."