DAMASCUS: President Bashar Assad took the oath of office for a fourth term in war-ravaged Syria Saturday, after taking 95 percent of the vote in a controversial election dismissed abroad.

Assad was sworn in on the constitution and the Qur鈥檃n in the presence of more than 600 guests, including ministers, businessmen, academics and journalists, organizers said.

The elections 鈥渉ave proven the strength of popular legitimacy that the people have conferred to the state,鈥� 55-year-old Assad said, in his inauguration speech.

They 鈥渉ave discredited the declarations of Western officials on the legitimacy of the state, the constitution and the homeland,鈥� he added.

The vote extending Assad鈥檚 grip on power was the second since the start of a decade-long civil war that has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions and battered the country鈥檚 infrastructure.

On the eve of the May 26 election, the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy said the poll was 鈥渘either free nor fair,鈥� and Syria鈥檚 fragmented opposition has called it a 鈥渇arce.鈥�

With his campaign slogan, 鈥淗ope through work,鈥� Assad cast himself as the sole architect of a reconstruction phase for the troubled country.