Syria is one of six nations that will not be invited to late British Monarch Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on 19th September, a Reuters report revealed.
Syria, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Venezuela will not be invited to the funeral, a foreign office source told the news agency on Wednesday. The North Korean ambassador will be invited to the funeral, instead of North Korean President Kim Jong Un.
Queen Elizabeth died on 8th September, making her the longest-running monarch in the UK’s history. The period of mourning will last for ten days until her funeral.
The UK has no diplomatic ties with Syria and has supported the political opposition since the outbreak of the Syrian Revolution in 2011. It has imposed a host of sanctions against the Bashar al-Assad regime alongside other western countries.
A recent decision by the UK to cut trade tariffs on Syria, alongside seven other developing countries, attracted controversy among Syria watchers. The UK dropped tariffs on 85 per cent of goods traded with Syria to boost the economy of the developing country.
Trade between the two countries amounts to about US$7.2 million annually, and mainly consists of dairy products, textiles and electronics.
The UK government was careful to specify that the easing of tariffs would not benefit the Assad regime or his cronies and did not contradict the current sanctions regime.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
