An international exhibition has been inaugurated in the Syrian capital Damascus bringing together dozens of reconstruction companies together to compete on meeting Syrians' needs for rebuilding the war-torn country.

President Bashar al-Assad says his administration has genuine potentials to overcome US-led Western sanctions, reduce their impact and rebuild Syria's damaged infrastructure.

An Egypt-brokered truce, which came into effect on May 21st, put an end to eleven days of deadly Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.