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** Rehabilitating a War Criminal like Assad is Not an Option ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • February 23, 2023 at 5:00 am
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* Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's offer to ease border restrictions to allow aid agencies better access to areas of northern Syria that were devastated by the recent earthquake is nothing more than a calculated ploy to have the punitive sanctions regime against Damascus eased.
* The same pattern of double-dealing is now evident with the Assad regime's blatant attempt to exploit the humanitarian disaster caused by the earthquake on the Turkey-Syrian border for its own ends.
* Instead of easing sanctions against Assad, the Biden administration should be supporting efforts to establish an international war crimes tribunal that will ensure Assad and his henchmen stand trial for their despicable crimes.
* Nor is Syria the only rogue Middle Eastern state seeking to exploit the earthquake.
* Reports have also emerged that Iran, Syria's main regional ally, is similarly seeking to take advantage of the humanitarian disaster to expand its military presence in Syria, a policy that is designed to intensify its efforts to threaten neighbouring Israel.
* It is reported that Iran is using the earthquake to smuggle convoys of weapons disguised as humanitarian aid for earthquake victims in Syria.
* The Biden Administration should not be encouraging them in their duplicity.

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's offer to ease border restrictions to allow aid agencies better access to areas of northern Syria that were devastated by the recent earthquake is nothing more than a calculated ploy to have the punitive sanctions regime against Damascus eased. Pictured: A convoy of trucks from Doctors Without Borders, carrying aid to earthquake victims, enters Syria from Turkey via the al-Hamam border crossing, on February 19, 2023. (Photo by Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's offer to ease border restrictions to allow aid agencies better access to areas of northern Syria that were devastated by the recent earthquake is nothing more than a calculated ploy to have the punitive sanctions regime against Damascus eased.

During the five decades or so the Assad regime has been in power, one of its less appealing characteristics has been its willingness to exploit any global crisis for its own benefit.

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001, for example, Bashar al-Assad tried to improve relations with Washington by offering to help tackle the Al-Qaeda terrorist network that had masterminded the attack.

It later turned out to be an empty gesture, as Damascus soon turned its attention to supporting the numerous jihadi groups formed to carry out terrorist attacks against US forces operating in the Middle East.

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