From left to right: Defense Minister Mustapha Tlass, Assistant Regional Secretary-General of the Baath Party Suleiman Qaddah, Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, Assistant Secretary-General of the Baath Abdullah al-Ahmar, President Assad, Bashar al-Assad, Mufti of Damascus Abdul Fattah al-Bizem, and Vice-President Zuhair Masharka.