By Sam Webb Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has taken the time to post pictures of his wife and smiling schoolchildren online, despite the bloody civil war that is tearing his country apart. The pictures of a grinning and waving al-Assad, his British-born wife Asma and jubilant youngsters appeared on his Instagram account, enraging human rights groups. The President's pictures were posted a short time after another batch of photos showing the harrowing state of obliterated cities like Homs was released. The Syrian president waves to crowds in pictures posted to Instagram, despite the horrific war sweeping the country First lady: President Assad's British-born wife, Asma, embraces a woman in a photo from the Instagram account, which is full of pictures of the couple conducting typical heads of state-style duties
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Pictures show al-Assad smiling and greeting jubilant supporters
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They are a stark contrast to the grim scenes arising from savage civil war
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Human rights group said they show Assad's 'love me or I'll kill you' strategy
'@placeholder is not going to show the millions of people displaced, it's not going to show attacks on civilians.'