People are growing ever more desperate in the areas under his control.  

Damascus, Sept. 26.– The price of food in Syria has risen so high that women boil weeds to eat. At bakeries in Damascus, the capital, men clamber over each other to get their hands on what little subsidised bread is available. Across the country, queues for petrol snake for miles. Large parts of some cities are rubble. The currency is worth so little that locals use it as cigarette paper.

This was meant to have been a year of recovery for Bashar al-Assad. After nearly a decade of civil war, Syria’s dictator has all but defeated the rebels who tried to unseat him. He hoped one last push would seal his victory and that foreign powers, seeing no alternative, would re-establish diplomatic ties and begin to pay for reconstruction.

The move has led to speculation that Soumalia Cisse, a prominent opposition politician who has abducted, will be released in return.

Mali is one of the African countries along the Sahel where jihadist persecute Christians. [read more]  

Oct. 5.– Malian authorities have released 180 Islamic extremists from a prison in the capital and flown them to the country's north, an official confirmed late Sunday.

The move has fueled speculation that a prominent opposition politician held by jihadists could soon be freed after more than six months in captivity.