Syria ‘not invited’ to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

Syria is one of six nations that will not be invited to late British Monarch Queen Elizabeth's funeral on 19 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 8 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.