WikiLeaks Party's second Assand trip

THE Australian WikiLeaks Party, which met Syrian dictator and alleged war criminal Bashar al-Assad in an act of "solidarity" last month, is organising a second trip to the war-torn country with the help of regime officials.

As UN-backed peace talks in Switzerland descended into disarray yesterday after the release of 55,000 photos purportedly showing 11,000 tortured and slain prisoners of the regime, The Australian learned that at least three members of the party - including chief executive John Shipton, the father of Julian Assange, and western Sydney activist Jamal Daoud - had been in talks with Syrian Health Minister Saad Abdel-Salam al-Nayef to mount a "humanitarian" campaign at Easter. The WikiLeaks group hopes to raise about $40,000 to buy medicine, prompting warnings from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop about getting involved, again, in the bloody conflict.

"It is illegal under Australian law for any Australian to fight, provide funding, training, or supply weapons to either side of the conflict in Syria," Ms Bishop said. "Regardless of the legality, WikiLeaks' decision to pay a visit to the Syrian regime demonstrated an extraordinary lack of judgment.

"The Australian government strongly advises Australians not to travel to Syria because of the extremely dangerous security situation, highlighted by ongoing military conflict, kidnappings and terrorist attacks."

Mr Shipton and Mr Daoud were among a delegation that held a meeting with Assad and Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi in December, at which they were told an apparently false story about respected Sydney sheik Fedaa al-Majzoub being responsible for the kidnapping of 100 civilians during a massacre in the Latakia region.

That delegation also included Sydney University political economist Tim Anderson, who is a member of the Hands Off Syria group, which has since had a falling out with the WikiLeaks Party over claims Hands Off Syria was interested only in meeting officials and not orphans and refugees.

The WikiLeaks group plans to travel with Catholic nun Agnes Mariam de la Croix, who allegedly has ties to the Assad regime and recently released a 50-page report claiming footage of chemical weapons attacks was fake.

The UN has found overwhelming evidence that only the Syrian regime was capable of such attacks.

Mr Shipton said "heinous allegations" -- such as the release of the massive cache of photos this week - were "not sound judgment of the qualities of Assad".

"That story has already crumbled," Mr Shipton said.

"I would not wish to trivialise the fortunes of those men in those photos, but the acts of bestiality of the routed opposition forces have rivalled the Nazis."

The WikiLeaks Party polled 0.62 per cent of the national vote at the September federal election.

WikiLeaks Party National Council member Gail Malone wrote a post on the group's website yesterday describing the torture photos - assessed as credible by three international criminal lawyers - as "instant bollocks" and "a scam".

Ms Malone was helping to organise the next trip to Syria, Mr Shipton said.

He said the group would help replace items such as an MRI scanner at a hospital, which could not be fixed due to international sanctions.

"I do not believe the Australian government will get in the way, or that we as a community are that wretched to stop this," he said.

Peace talks brokered by the UN turned to farce in Geneva this week and there is little hope of movement as they end tomorrow.

A delegation from Damascus refused to accept a transitional government without Assad in power while US Secretary of State John Kerry said this was "not possible in the imagination". Mr Daoud, a WikiLeaks National Council member, said the group would make sure it bought medicine in "China or India, where it is cheap" so as not to cause trouble by bringing money into the country. "We will go for about six days with Mother Agnes; this is a mission to show the humanitarian catastrophe.

"The government has a problem with the money we want to raise because they are suspicious that the money could end up in the hands to buy weapons.

"We are not taking one cent; we are buying medicines. We do not think the Australian government will have a problem, even though we are concerned about that," he said.

Mr Daoud said the group has already spoken with the Syrian Health Minister. "He has given us a very clear picture of what is happening there," he said.

"About 20 per cent of the medicine it needs cannot be found so we will bring whatever they need and give it to the Red Cross or the Red Crescent."

They also plan to visit the Christian town of Maalula, which was recently overrun by al-Nusra Front fighters and Islamists who form part of the rebellion against Assad.

Rebels reportedly killed those who refused to convert to Islam.

Mr Daoud, a Sunni Muslim who is a known pro-regime activist, said the visiting group did not plan on meeting Assad again, "but we don't mind if that happens".

He said the WikiLeaks Party had endured a falling out with the "anti-imperialist, anti-Zionist" group Hands Off Syria because it was more obsessed with meeting Syrian officials on the visit to the nation last month than with helping people.

Dr Anderson said at the time that reports Assad killed his own people were "an absurd myth" and denied the regime had used chemical weapons, citing the report authored by Mother Agnes, who has no qualifications as a weapons inspector.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/aussie-wikileaks-activists-plan-new-syria-trip/story-fn59nm2j-1226809096386