Murdered MP praised for focus on plight of Syrians

Jo Cox MP was co-chair of the Friends of Syria All Party Parliamentary Group

A founding member of the Syrian Association of Yorkshire has paid tribute to murdered MP Jo Cox for her efforts in highlighting the plight of people in that country under former President Bashar al-Assad.

Dr Mohammad Isreb is originally from the port city of Latakia in Syria, but now lives and works in Bradford.

He said the former Batley and Spen Labour MP, who was murdered in 2016, had helped shine a light on the lives of many Syrians forced to live in exile during Assad's regime, which ended with the president's ousting last week.

Dr Isreb, 42, said he wished Ms Cox, who was an active supporter of Syrian opposition groups, "was still alive to see this moment".

Ms Cox was killed by far-right terrorist Thomas Mair on 16 June 2016.

Mass rallies have taken place across Syria to celebrate the end of the Assad regime

Dr Isreb left Syria in 2007 to study in Bradford, but was unable to return for safety reasons.

His two brothers, his sister and his elderly parents later joined him in exile.

Dr Isreb said Ms Cox had been "a big supporter of the Syrian cause".

"She was actually calling for a no-fly zone and for opening more routes for Syrian refugees at the time," he said.

Last weekend, after more than decade of civil war which displaced an estimated 14 million Syrians, the country's capital Damascus was taken by Islamist militant group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, marking the end of Assad's regime.

Dr Isreb said: "I just want to actually remember Jo Cox. I wish she was still with us now to celebrate with us this big news."

Dr Mohammad Isreb was an outspoken critic of the fallen regime

Syria was one of Ms Cox's main foreign policy interests, and she was co-chair of the Friends of Syria All Party Parliamentary Group.

In December 2015, she was one of five Labour MPs who abstained in the vote on air strikes against so-called Islamic State in Syria.

Dr Isreb said he had recently thinking about a photo of Ms Cox from the time they had first met.

"I wish she was still alive to see this moment. She believed it would happen one day and she was telling us that it will happen one day when we had lost hope," he said.

"All I can do is think of her and wish that I could have taken her to visit my home town."

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