DAMASCUS

A PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin chatting with Bashar Al-Assad has led to a firm claim by the former Syrian hard man that it must be a fake as he would – despite his reputation for cruelty – never have tolerated the presence of a man like the Fianna Fail chief.

“I know Fianna Fail threw Ireland off a cliff in 2008. I would never insult the Irish people by meeting a man who was a member of the Irish Government that ruined his country,” the ex-tyrant leader said . “Why Irish people keep voting for this man and his party is a mystery to me.”