President Bashar al-Assad will face two challengers in Syria's June 3 presidential election, which he is assured of winning.

"The supreme constitutional court announces... the acceptance of candidacy bids registered by... Maher Abdel Hafiz Hajjar, Hassan Abdallah al-Nuri and Bashar Hafez al-Assad," a court official said on Sunday.

Twenty-three candidates had initially registered to run against Mr Assad, but most did not meet election criteria to run for office in a vote that has been mocked by the opposition and the West as a "farce".

Both Mr Hajjar and Mr Nuri are largely unknown to the Syrian public.

Candidates whose bids were rejected have until May 7 to appeal the court's decision, said Majed al-Khadra of the constitutional court, whose statement was carried by state television.

While the election is the country's first multi-candidate vote, the rules effectively rule out any opponents to Mr Assad's regime from running.

Among them is the stipulation that anyone who has lived outside Syria in the past decade is excluded, effectively barring most prominent opposition figures, who live in exile.

At the same time, the vote will only be held in areas under government control.

The regime has barred from voting those refugees who left the country illegally.

The election is being held amid a brutal civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people since March 2011 and made millions homeless.

The conflict started as a peaceful protest movement calling for reforms but descended into civil war after a government crackdown.

The government has lost swathes of territory to rebels, especially in the country's north and east, although it has maintained control over much of Syria's centre and Mediterranean coast.

AFP/Reuters