Hafez al-Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's older son Hafez, attending the 58th International Mathematical Olympiad in Rio, on July 17, 2017, asserts that he will never leave his country and that the conflict can not be defined as a 'civil war.'

In an interview with Brazilian daily O Globo, Hafez al-Assad stressed that he would "never" leave Syria, pointing out that the Arab country will need time to resolve the profound crisis.

"... I am a Syrian citizen like any another, I see and live the horror that is happening in our country. But I have never lost hope for our Syria.
"This is not a civil war, it's just people who plunder our homeland and our land. It is a war against the people ... " said the son of the Syrian President.

Declaring that in Syria there is "a war against the people," Hafez added that "... the people, the nation and the government are one against the invaders trying to take control of the country ..."

When asked about the current situation in Syria, after six years of conflict, Hafez expressed the hope that "... it can not last long ... The conflict has lasted six years and, hopefully, it is about to end ... everything is very complicated, and it will take some time to be solved ... " he said.

Hafez, 15, is in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro to attend the 58th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO 2017), which takes place here July 12-23. In this regard, he said he was "proud" to represent his country in this annual scientific competition.

The Syrian President has two sons, Hafez and Karim (13 years old) and one daughter, Zein (14). In October 2016, Assad's wife, Asma, had made similar statements to assure that they had rejected all "offers" about abandoning the country.