LONDON: British far-right leader Nick Griffin was among a group of European politicians visiting Syria yesterday at the invitation of President Bashar Al Assad’s regime.
British National Party (BNP) spokesman Simon Darby said Griffin and other European delegates had been invited by the Syrian foreign ministry. Griffin, a member of the European Parliament, said he wanted to highlight the risk that any future British move to arm the rebels fighting Assad could plunge Syria into an “Iraq-style hell of sectarian hate”.
The BNP leader also linked Islamist militancy espoused by some of the rebels with the hacking to death of British soldier Lee Rigby in London last month.
Griffin, 54, entered Syria from neighbouring Lebanon and posted a series of comments about the trip on Twitter.
“Now in Damascus, which is busy, a modern, bustling city. Security rather like Belfast in Troubles,” he wrote, referring to the years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.
“Fact finding mission. (British Prime Minister David) Cameron and (Foreign Secretary William) Hague plan to send UK money and weapons to rebels dominated by Islamist jihadis like killers of Lee Rigby. “Occasional explosions in distance but life in capital normal. Traffic busy, shops full of goods. Families out in sun. Why turn stable secular state into Iraq-style hell of sectarian hate? More madness from the people who dragged us to costly war in Iraq and Afghan(istan).
Jordan jails three for bid to join Syria rebels
AMMAN: A Jordanian military tribunal jailed yesterday three men convicted of trying to join Syria’s jihadist Al Nusra Front and fight President Bashar Al Assad’s regime. “The state security court today initially sentenced the three to five years in jail each, but immediately halved the prison terms,” a court official said. “They attempted in January to interfiltrate Syria and join Al Nusra Front.”
The official said the men were charged with “carrying out acts that the government does not approve and that would expose Jordan to the risk of aggression, as well as possession of unlicensed firearms.”AFP
