By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared on Monday he would seek re-election in June, defying calls from his opponents to step aside and allow a political solution to the country's devastating civil war. Assad formally submitted his **mination to Syria's constitutional court to stand in an election which his Western and Arab foes have dismissed as a parody of democracy. He is the seventh person to put himself forward for Syria's first multi-candidate presidential vote in decades, but **ne of his rivals are expected to mount a serious challenge to 44 years of Assad family rule. "I ... Dr Bashar Hafez al Assad ... wish to **minate myself for the post of president of the republic, hoping that parliament will endorse it," it said.