How Jeremy Corbyn and his aides have a history of standing up for the Syrian dictator
The Labour leader has argued against tough action from the West in response to Assad's atrocities
JEREMY CORBYN today refused to blame Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad for the chemical attack on Syrian citizens.
And the leftie Labour boss has a long history of standing up for the regime - while opposing the West's attempts to hit back against him.
Mr Corbyn is also allied with a string of far-left aides who have sided with Assad.
The party leader was today asked if he believes Assad is responsible for the chemical attack which killed dozens of people, including children, in the rebel-held area of Douma on Saturday night.
He replied: ";I condemn it absolutely, I condemn the use of chemical or biological weapons in any scenario anywhere in the world."
Without mentioning Assad, Mr Corbyn added: "The tragedy and the terror of people's lives in Syria can only end by a political solution.
"That means every country in the region, as well as Russia and the United States, coming together to ensure there is a meaningful process and there is a political process to bring about a political solution."
When Assad carried out a previous gas attack a year ago, Mr Corbyn again refused to point the finger at the Syrian tyrant.
And in 2013, following a chemical attack in which Assad killed hundreds of people, Mr Corbyn appeared on Putin's propaganda channel RT where he defended the regime.
The Labour MP suggested he had "a great deal of skepticism" that Assad was responsible, claiming there was "very strong evidence" that rebel forces were behind the attack instead.
In 2009 - before the protests which sparked Syria's civil war - Mr Corbyn travelled to the country and met Assad on a junket funded by a controversial anti-Israel group.
Earlier this year, a notorious Assad supporter claimed to have briefed Mr Corbyn on the Syrian civil war.
Declan Hayes - who has spread conspiracy theories accusing charity workers of murdering children to frame the regime - met the MP in 2013, before he became Labour leader.
Mr Corbyn also allied himself with a number of Assad apologists while he was chairman of Stop the War.
The group's vice-president at the time was Kamal Majid, who called on left-wingers to support Assad because he has "a long history of resisting imperialism".
Seumas Milne, Mr Corbyn's closest aide, wrote a number of columns apparently siding with Assad during his time at the Guardian newspaper.
In 2015, he said Vladimir Putin's support of the Syrian regime "provided some check to unbridled US power".
Other senior Labour figures, including shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, have been more critical of Assad since the attack on Saturday night.
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A Labour spokesman told The Sun: "This is complete nonsense. Jeremy Corbyn has consistently condemned the Syrian government for its brutal campaign and disregard for civilian lives in the Syrian conflict.
“What has happened in Douma looks to be just the latest abhorrent attack in Syria using chemical weapons, a war crime for which the Assad regime has been held responsible in the past and which we utterly condemn.”
A party source also pointed out that former Tory minister Michael Fallon met Assad in 2007.