Pro-Assad parliamentary member Sharif Shehadeh has failed to get asylum in Belgium, after his application was refused by the Belgian authorities.
Several reasons were given for the rejection, including that Belgian investigators were not convinced of Shehadeh's claims that he and his family's life are in danger because of his proximimty to the Assad regime, as the regime has provided him with adequate protection.
The other reason his application was refused was because he lied in the application form submitted to get a visa to the European embassy, in which he vowed to return to Damascus in a period that does not exceed twenty days. He was invited to visit some European parliamentarians inEuropean countries to prepare for the propopsed Geneva II conference.
It is worth mentioning that Shehadeh has explicitly requested asylum, and when he was asked about the reason for his visit to Belgium, he answered that he had been threatened, his car had been planted with explosives more than once and his bodyguard had been killed as a result of the bombing of his car. He said there were several other attempts to assassinate him but he has miraculously survived death .
The duration of his stay in European expires on the 31 October and he must leave European territory, and Belgian particularly, when his visa ends.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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