Bashar al-Assad 'still in Damascus'

Syrian state TV has reported that Bashar al-Assad remains in Damascus.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported Assad's children and wife travelled to Russia last week and his brothers-in-law went to the United Arab Emirates.

Egyptian and Jordanian officials have been urging the president to leave Syria, the WSJ said, a claim denied by Jordan's foreign ministry.

Assad has been president of Syria since his father, Hafez al-Assad, died in 2000. The Syrian war began when Assad ordered soldiers to violently put down pro-democracy protests in 2011.