In this Wednesday, July 16, 2014 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria's President Bashar Assad waves to his supporters upon his arrival to the presidential palace to take the oath of office for his third seven-year term in Damascus, Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad is taking advantage of the U.S.-led coalition's war against the Islamic State group to pursue a withering air and ground campaign against more mainstream rebels elsewhere in the country, trying to recapture areas considered more crucial to the survival of his government. Assad's troops are now focusing their energies on the country's two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo. (AP Photo/SANA, File)
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