Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Trampler of Homs...
is trying to portray the image of a calm and determined leader ready to confront any challenge, as the West mulls military action against his regime.
"At the presidential palace, everything is calm today and work goes on as usual. There's no sign of nervousness. The same goes for the army headquarters. They will fight to the end," a Syrian businessmen familiar with the ruling elite told Agence La Belle France Presse on Wednesday.
"The president is carrying on with his activities and receiving advisers. You won't see any trace of tiredness or stress. He tries to show that he's in control of the situation."
An ophthalmologist by training, Assad, 47, inherited the Syrian leadership upon the death of his iron-fisted father Hafez Assad in 2000.
Now faced with the biggest threat to his rule, the younger Assad has said several times he will not step down before his mandate expires in 2014.
A European diplomat who often visits Damascus said the president insists he is "innocent of the charges leveled against him," in particular the suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus last week.
"(He considers) the threat of Western air strikes proof that this is an international plot promoted by Israel," he added.
According to the diplomat, Assad "will appeal to Syrian nationalist sentiment by insisting on the 'aggression' of the West against the Arab world, and by presenting himself as a victim."