Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had requested political asylum in Venezuela for him and his family, said the Qatar based TV channel Al-Jazeera, referring to the Turkish press, which in turn cites unnamed sources from the Turkish Embassy in Caracas. Several Turkish diplomats said al-Assad sent a request for political asylum to the Foreign Ministry in Venezuela.
According to Al-Jazeera, the information was confirmed by the Venezuelan government without nominate any official sources in this regard.
The issue of granting political asylum to al-Assad and his family returned to the international media attention amid civil war in Syria. The government of Ecuador has previously announced that it is willing to consider granting asylum to Syrian leader and his family if such a request was made. A statement to this effect was made by President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has made it clear that it opposes the granting of asylum to President Bashar al-Assad if the international community will come up with such a proposal.
“Whoever is guilty of serious human rights violations must be held accountable and be brought to justice,” said Ban Ki-moon.
In late November, Deputy Foreign Minister of Syria, Faisal al-Miqdad, sent a personal message to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez from the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. Al-Miqdad did not disclose the content of the message, saying only that it is about the relationship between the two presidents, according to the online publication Islam.News.
Currently, the President of Venezuela is in Cuba, recovering after another cancer surgery after the disease for which he has been treated since June last year has returned.
Before leaving, Chavez reiterated his support for the current regime in Damascus. “How can we not support the government of President Bashar al-Assad if he this is the legitimate government of Syria?” asked rhetorically the Venezuelan leader, quoted by Universal newspaper.
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