President Bashar al-Assad has always seen time as an ally in the Syrian civil war, along with the Iranian and Russian firepower that helped him defeat his enemies, according to sources familiar with his thinking.
After more than 12 years of civil conflict that made him a reviled figure to much of the world and killed 350,000 people, his strategy appears have paid off as Arab states that once shunned him welcome him back into the Arab League.
