British politicians seek to strip Assad's wife of UK citizenship

UK politicians have urged the Home Office to review Asma Assad's status as a citizen following social media support for her husband.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: APRIL 18, 2017 11:01
Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad (photo credit: REUTERS)
Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Politicians in the United Kingdom are calling on the government to revoke the British passport of Syrian President Bashar Assad's wife after expressing support for his regime on social media, The Guardian reported Sunday.
Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi urged the UK Home Office to consider using its powers to annul Asma Assad's citizenship, accusing the Syrian First Lady of being “very much part of the propaganda machine that is committing war crimes” against Syrian civilians.
The Liberal Democrats, a parliamentary faction in Westminster, also said in a letter written to Home Secretary Amber Rudd that revoking Assad's citizenship should be urgently considered in light of her recent social media statements.
 
Asma Assad "has acted not as a private citizen but as a spokesperson for the Syrian presidency,"  Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, wrote to the Home Office chief.
Aftermath of suspected chemical gas attack in Idlib , Syria on April 4, 2017 (REUTERS)
"(UK Foreign Minister) 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,” he added.
Western nations have accused the Syrian regime of using chemical weapons against civilians earlier this month in an attack that killed 87 people and wounded hundreds more in the northwest town of Idlib.
In response, US President Donald Trump ordered a strike against the suspected military airfield where the chemical attack was launched, hitting it with 59 missiles. 
According to The Guardian, Asma Assad took to social media shortly after the event to express support for her husband’s presidency.
“The presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic affirms that what America has done is an irresponsible act that only reflects a shortsightedness, a narrow horizon, a political and military blindness to reality and a naive pursuit of a frenzied false propaganda campaign.”
Asma, 41, was born in London to Syrian parents and worked as investment banker before she married in 2000.