SYRIAN refugees waved flags and pictures of Bashar al-Assad as thousands crammed into Damascus’s embassy in Lebanon today to vote in their general election.

Their buses blocked one of Beirut’s main roads and tens of thousands of people were bottle-necked in embassy entrance, some getting squashed by the hordes behind them.

Several countries that oppose President Assad have blocked the voting but people were still able to participate in many countries.

Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said he “was surprised by the undemocratic decisions taken by countries which say they are democratic — like the French, Belgian and Bulgarian governments — but which are not in line with international law.”

He said those countries had banned Syrians from going to embassies to vote, in direct violation of the Vienna Protocol on Diplomatic Relations.