Syria tourist stall at crafts fair

At the Surajkund Mela, visitors could spot the face of Bashar Al-Assad smiling down on them

Among the international stalls at the Surajkund International Crafts Mela that ends on February 15 visitors could spot the face of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad smiling down on them. The war-torn nation of Syria, where an estimated 400,000 people — or more than 12 per cent of the population — have died since 2011, has set up a small stall at the fair under a large picture of Assad. One of the three serious-faced men manning the counter said they were not traders but bureaucrats from Syria. They had nothing to sell but were there to hand out tourism-related literature.