Assad doctors swearing-in photo?

UK's Guardian says Damascus authorities digitally merge picture of new Hama governor being sworn in before Syrian president

Ynet|Published: 07.14.11 , 15:28

Following the computer-manipulated image showing former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak walking in front of US President Barack Obama and an attempt to digitally increase the number of protesters in Yemen, the Arab world might be facing another Photoshop embarrassment.

Syria's official news agency recently published a photo of the newly appointed Hama Governor Anas Abdul-Razzaq Naem being sworn in by President Bashar Assad.

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However, the image aroused the suspicion of British newspaper Guardian, which sent it its imaging expert David McCoy who determined – the picture seems to have been manipulated.

Photoshop mishap or visual illusion? (Photo: AP)

The photo, McCoy noted, combines two images digitally merged in order to create the impression that both men were present in the same room.

According to the expert, the picture on the right was positioned "fractionally higher than the one on the left. This becomes clearer when you look closely at the floor, which is distorted. The right hand side of the picture has been stretched downwards into place to line up with the left side (which is not distorted)."

McCoy also said the two men are not looking directly at one another. "Assad appears to have had the edge detail on his hair smoothed out, in contrast to the harsh, overly sharpened edges visible elsewhere on his body."