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Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour has been criticised by the UK government for recently meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In his first trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since the Syrian civil war began 11 years ago, Assad met several influential figures last week.
Mansour, the UAE’s deputy prime minister, was photographed with him.
Such gatherings, according to a Foreign Office official, “undermine the prospect” of a Syrian peace deal.
Syria’s relations with its Arab neighbors, which had previously isolated Assad, could improve as a result of Assad’s visit.
The leadership of the United Arab Emirates have indicated that they are eager to re-establish ties with Syria.
“It is the UK’s unequivocal conviction that – in the absence of a change in behavior by the Syrian regime – expanding ties undermines the prospect of a lasting and inclusive peace in Syria,” the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement to The Athletic in response to the move.
On Twitter, Jonathan Hargreaves, the UK’s special representative for Syria, wrote: “Assad’s unrepentant and unreformed dictatorship continues to commit atrocities against the Syrian people after 11 years of fighting.
“Engagement will only serve to undermine collective attempts to convince Assad to participate in the UN-mediated political process in good faith unless he alters his behavior…
“Any normalization of relations with the Syrian regime remains unacceptable to the United Kingdom.”
Labour MP Chris Bryant, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia, expressed similar worries and questioned if Mansour was a “fit and suitable person to be running a football club” in an interview with The Telegraph.
Vincent Paul
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