British peers and priests accused of 'chatting with mass murderer' after meeting Assad in Syria
Raf Sanchez, Middle East Correspondent
Laura Hughes, Political Correspondent
A group of British peers and priests has been accused of "sitting down for a chat with a mass murderer" after they met
Bashar al-Assad, the leader of Syria's regime, in Damascus.
The delegation saw Mr Assad even as his forces and their Russian allies were re-imposing a state of siege on rebel-held eastern Aleppo, supported by air strikes that have killed thousands of civilians.
The delegation included Rev’d Michael Nazir-Ali, formerly the Anglican Bishop of Rochester, along with two crossbench peers, Baroness Cox and Lord Hylton, as well as the Rev’d Andrew Ashdown, an Anglican vicar.
Their intention may have been to highlight the plight of Christians in Syria, but critics said the group had instead given legitimacy to a leader guilty of war crimes.
John Woodcock, the Labour MP and vice-president of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Syria, said: "It is shocking to see a British parliamentarian giving international pariah al-Assad a photo opportunity to distract from the brutal and ongoing slaughter he is perpetrating on Syrian families. Whatever good intentions this British delegation has will fail; their presence at this man's side can only strengthen him as his campaign of terror continues."
Baroness Hussein-Ece, a Liberal Democrat peer, said it was "shameful" for members of the House of Lords to "sit down for a chat with a mass murderer and a war criminal".
Britain severed diplomatic relations with Syria’s regime after Mr Assad’s forces massacred 108 civilians in the Houla area in May 2012.
The Foreign Office stressed that the British visitors "do not represent the British government", adding: "Any British parliamentarians who have visited Damascus have done so independently. The British government advises against all travel to Syria."
The group saw Mr Assad in Damascus on Sunday and also met the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, who has been openly supportive of the regime.
Since the beginning of Syria's civil war in 2011, Mr Assad has tried to present himself as a champion of religious minorities, including Christians.
He has also tried to tar all Syrian rebels as jihadists who would treat Christians with the same brutality that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has shown towards Christian prisoners.
The Rev’dNazir-Ali left his post as the Bishop of Rochester in 2009 to work full time on the issue of persecution of Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Baroness Cox, who is best known for trying to invite the far-Right Dutch MP Geert Wilders to Parliament before the Government banned him from entering Britain, has also spoken out about Christian persecution.
Christians made up around 10 per cent of Syria's population before the war and many sided with Mr Assad out of fear that the fall of his secular regime would lead to an Islamist takeover.
But others joined the uprising against Mr Assad. George Sabra, the president of the Syrian National Council opposition group, is a Christian.
Dr H.A. Hellyer, an associate fellow at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said the visit of the British delegation would be used as propaganda by the Assad regime both inside Syria and abroad.
"Inside Syria, Assad gets to say: 'Look, there are still members of the Western establishment who will openly meet with me. So while some may question my legitimacy, others at the heart of British democracy buy my claim to be Syria's rightful leader'. His cynical message to the West is: 'It's either me or Isil and not only are Isil evil creatures but I will protect Christian minorities’."
The Rev’dNazir-Ali's office did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the offices of Baroness Cox or Lord Hylton.
Despite British policy towards Mr Assad, a number of high profile British politicians have visited him. David Davis, then a backbencher but now the secretary of state for leaving the European Union, saw Mr Assad in April as part of a "fact-finding" mission.
Meanwhile, the US and Russia remained unable to seal an agreement on a ceasefire between regime and rebel forces in Syria.
The starting point for any deal would be the freezing of the present frontlines. But the advance of Mr Assad's forces south of Aleppo, where they have recaptured a military complex in the Ramousah area, effectively re-imposes the siege of rebel-held eastern Aleppo.
This move will make it far harder for Russia and America to reach agreement. Despite 90 minutes of talks between President Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in China, no deal emerged.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/05/british-peers-and-priests-accused-of-chatting-with-mass-murderer/