Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Blair urged Assad to act against Julani, documents reveal
Perfidious Albion: Blair asked Assad to act against jihadists including Abu Mohammed al-Julani, whose overthrow of Assad Britain has now welcomed

Tony Blair urged Syria’s then president Assad to act in 2004 against the Islamist group which has now come to power in Damascus.

Government documents show the perfidy of British policy in the region, with Britain now hailing the Islamists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as liberators while damning Assad as a tyrant.

In 2004 British secret service officials beseeched Assad to help stop fighters entering Iraq via Syria.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, May 14, 2025
Labour Party / 25 September 2025
25 September 2025
Former Labour leader and Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn addresses campaigners from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign taking part in a protest outside Downing Street, London, to oppose the upcoming visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, September 9, 2025
Politics / 25 September 2025
25 September 2025
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan at the launch of the Holiday Hope programme, July 24, 2025
Britain / 24 September 2025
24 September 2025
Former Labour leader and Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn joins workers on the picket line at the Village Hotel in Glasgow who have been on a month-long strike over pay and conditions, August 22, 2025
Politics / 24 September 2025
24 September 2025
Similar stories
INTENTIONS ABOUT TO BE TESTED: Members from Bashar Assad’s
Features / 18 December 2024
18 December 2024
Following the sudden collapse of the Assad government, foreign powers and Islamist militias carve up the nation while Israel continues to drop bombs and expand its illegal occupation. Secular democracy is now a faded dream, writes LIBERATION
An opposition fighter fires his AK-47 in the air in celebrat
Features / 9 December 2024
9 December 2024
VIJAY PRASHAD reflects on the latest developments in Syria and what they mean for the Middle East