Syria's polling stations have opened on Wednesday across government-held areas in a presidential election set to give President Bashar Assad a fourth seven-year term. Syrian television showed long of queues of people at polling stations, which opened at 7:00 am.

Syria's public broadcaster showed people waving Syrian flags and pictures of al-Assad while some chanted his name in front of polling stations. "We are proud to come and take part in this election as it is our national duty," a woman told Syrian television in Aleppo, the second-largest city in Syria.

More than 18 million Syrians are eligible to vote in and outside the country, Interior Minister Mohammed al Rahmoun said on Tuesday, adding that a total of 12,102 polling stations were set up.

Syria's Supreme Constitutional Court has approved three candidates to run in the presidential race, including al-Assad.

On the eve of the vote, the secretary of state of the United States, the foreign secretary of Britain and the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Italy issued a joint statement condemning the "fraudulent election." The five nations said they "support the voices of all Syrians, including civil society organizations and the Syrian opposition, who have condemned the electoral process as illegitimate."

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