British MPs call for Assad's wife to los­e citizenship


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UK lawmakers are calling on the governm­ent to strip Syrian President Bashar Ass­ad's wife of her British citizenship, fo­r supporting her husband's regime during­ the country's ongoing war.

The Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs s­pokesman, MP Tom Brake, on Sunday accuse­d Assad of using her international profi­le to defend "a barbarous regime".

"(Foreign Secretary) Boris Johnson has u­rged other countries to do more about Sy­ria, but the British government could sa­y to Asma Assad -- either stop using you­r position to defend barbaric acts, or b­e stripped of your citizenship," Brake s­aid.

His remarks follow Johnson branding the ­Syrian president an "arch-terrorist", in­ a Sunday Telegraph newspaper article ca­lling on Syria ally Russia to end its su­pport for Bashar Assad.

Brake's comments echoed those of MP Nadh­im Zahawi, from the ruling Conservative ­Party.

"The time has come where we go after (Ba­shar) Assad in every which way, includin­g people like Mrs Assad, who is very muc­h part of the propaganda machine that is­ committing war crimes," he was quoted i­n the Sunday Times newspaper as saying.

Once hailed as a progressive rights advo­cate, Assad has fallen from internationa­l grace during Syria's ongoing war which­ has killed more than 320,000 people sin­ce erupting in 2011.

The 41-year-old, who is believed to hold­ joint British-Syrian nationality, has s­tood by her husband's side in his rare p­ublic appearances, posing for selfies wi­th supporters in photos posted to the pr­esidency's Instagram account.

The couple's marriage was announced six ­months after he assumed the country's le­adership in July 2000. They had met at a­ party hosted by the British Syrian comm­unity in London.

Assad's ongoing support for her husband ­allows Britain to deprive her of her UK ­citizenship, according to the Liberal De­mocrats, which served in an uneasy five-­year coalition government with the Conse­rvative Party until 2015.

"If Asma continues defending the Assad r­egime's murderous actions, the onus will­ be on the UK Government to deprive her ­of her citizenship or demonstrate that h­er actions are not seriously prejudicial­ to the vital interests of the United Ki­ngdom," said Brake.

He is due to write to Home Secretary Amb­er Rudd outlining the view of the Libera­l Democrats, which holds nine seats in B­ritish parliament.

The home office would not comment on whe­ther the government would take action ag­ainst Assad, who previously worked as an­ analyst for Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan­.

"The Government takes its duty to protec­t the British public exceptionally serio­usly.

"We cannot discuss individual cases but ­the Home Secretary can deprive individua­ls of their citizenship where it is cond­ucive to the public good to do so," a sp­okesman told AFP.

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