Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been re-elected for a fourth seven-year term in a presidential election on Wednesday dismissed by the opposition as a sham, news wires reported. Al-Assad won 95.1% of the valid votes, head of the Syrian parliament Hamoud Sabagh said. Some 78.6% of eligible voters cast ballots inside and outside Syria, Sabagh added at a press conference in Damascus.

Syrian state television showed live celebrations of al-Assad’s win in several parts of the country, including Damascus, dpa reported.

Three contenders, including al-Assad, ran in Wednesday’s polls, Syria’s second presidential election since the country’s civil war started in 2011.

Wednesday’s election was held in government-controlled areas. The rebels still hold some areas in north and north-western Syria, while Kurds rule areas in the north-east.

The election has been condemned as fraudulent by Syria's opposition as well as the US, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

The five nations said in a statement on the eve of the vote that they "support the voices of all Syrians, including civil society organizations and the Syrian opposition, who have condemned the electoral process as illegitimate."

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