The papers reveal government departmental staff believed the Anglican priest Rev Andrew Ashdown and fellow trip organisers were “parroting” the propaganda of leaders in Damascus.
Their latest trip, which took place six months ago, was “used by the regime as propaganda to undermine the UK’s position on Syria”, an FCO document seen by The Times claimed.
The Grand Mufti of Syria – the nation’s top Muslim cleric – welcomed Rev Ashdown, Christian peer Baroness Caroline Cox and Anglican priest Rev Giles Fraser to the Syrian capital in April (pictured below).
The meeting, hailed as a sign of solidarity with the country’s Christian minority, took place hours after UK warplanes struck suspect chemical weapons facilities.
The airstrike followed Prime Minister Theresa May’s condemnation of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Douma as an “atrocity” and “stain on our humanity”.
In September 2016, Rev Ashdown was part of a British delegation of clergy and peers which met President Assad (pictured below).
The trips have been defended as “pastoral” and “fact-finding” in nature. Rev Ashdown was quoted by the Church Times in April as emphasising the need for dialogue with Syria’s leaders.
He said: “There are very good people in the Syrian government, and also some very bad.
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