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Syria's Assad halts parliament speech over low blood pressure: state TV

President Bashar al-Assad said he needed to sit down before suddenly exiting the room full of lawmakers.

GettyImages-1228011877.jpg
Syrian solider Ghayath Dayub is welcomed by his comrades upon arrival from Hama under a billboard bearing a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad and reading in Arabic "Aleppo is the apple of my eye" in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, where Dayub was wounded during battles with rebel fighters, on Aug. 12, 2020. The wounded soldier did the 135-kilometer (84-mile) trip in a show of "loyalty to Syria and support to the army," which has been battling opposition fighters since 2011. — AFP via Getty Images

Low blood pressure forced Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to briefly stop his speech to parliament, state television said today. 

The 54-year-old leader was speaking to the assembly for the first time since last month’s parliamentary elections. He stopped for multiple sips of water, telling the audience, “My blood pressure has dropped and I need to drink water.”

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