Syrian officials have slammed the UK after the possibility was raised that members of their Olympic delegation with links to President Assad’s regime would be denied entry for the 2012 Games in London.
Speaking to the BBC, Mowaffak Joma, chairman of the Syrian Olympic committee stated that the UK “has no right” to deny anyone access to the Games, commenting,
Speaking to the BBC, Mowaffak Joma, chairman of the Syrian Olympic committee stated that the UK “has no right” to deny anyone access to the Games, commenting,
"The authority of any host country is limited to organising and offering all necessary facilities to all participating athletes."
"If the British government has decided to ban anyone connected to the regime and to President Bashar-al Assad, I am telling you in advance they should ban all Syrian citizens, because we all support President Assad and support Syria."His statement comes after Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, speaking on the whether Syrian officials will be allowed into the country, said,
"If there is evidence that you have abused human rights and that is independently shown to be the case, you will not be able to come into this country."
"What I cannot do... sitting here is [provide] a list of the individuals to come, and are they coming as per the arrangements with the IOC."Foreign Secretary William Hague due to meet the Russian Foreign Minister regarding Syria, also commented on the Olympics stating, “we do know who to watch out for”, and that all applications to enter the UK would be looked at "rigorously and vigorously".
"We do have the power to prevent them entering the UK, even when the Olympics is on."See our earlier post: Human rights abusers face Olympic Games ban (24 May 2012)
