Britain revokes wedding invitation for Syrian envoy

Human rights groups have criticized the decision to invite ambassador Sami Khiyami to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials. More than 450 people have been killed in the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s authoritarian regime.

Queen Elizabeth II receives the Syrian Ambassador, Sami Khiyami, at Buckingham Palace, London. File photo: AP.

Britain has revoked a royal wedding invitation to the Syrian ambassador because of violent attacks on protesters by the regime there.

Human rights groups have criticized the decision to invite ambassador Sami Khiyami to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials. More than 450 people have been killed in the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s authoritarian regime.

The government says ambassadors from all countries with which Britain has “normal diplomatic relations” have been invited - some 185 in all.

But it said on Thursday that the Syrian ambassador’s presence would be “unacceptable” and he won’t attend.