Report: Tunisia ready to offer asylum to Assad

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad casts his ballot next to his wife Asma at a polling station during a referendum on the new constitution, in Damascus, Syria, on Feb. 26, 2012. / AP Photo/SANA

TUNIS, Tunisia - Tunisia's president has told a local paper he is ready to offer asylum to Syria's leader Bashar Assad as part of a negotiated solution to end the Syrian conflict, the paper's website announced said Tuesday.

President Moncef Marzouki said the offer would also extend to Assad's associates, in the interview set to appear Wednesday in the French-language daily La Presse.

Tunisia would be a surprising choice for Assad's retirement as it was the first Arab nation to topple a longtime autocrat when its former president fled the country a year ago in the face of protests.

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Pro-democracy demonstrations in Syrian towns and cities have been violently repressed, provoking world condemnation of the government.

Tunisia was the first country to recall its ambassador from Syria in protest at the violence and it also hosted an international conference Friday which called for an immediate cease-fire and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.

Assad's forces continue to bombard a number of cities and opposition activists say more than 8,000 people have died in the last 11 months.

[hellfire_harvey]

what is the world coming to? what message are we sending our children, if you're going to kill don't kill just one or two people, kill thousands because then you will be offered asylum and you can live out your days in luxury? and then we wonder why the world is so screwed up? we've lost our moral compass. there can be no backdoor deals for BASHER Al-Assad. he has to answer for his crimes.

[erpicferl]

his wife is hot, maybe after he is hanged i can beat some guts.

[syriana007]

The look on her face says it all. She is looking very tired and guilty. I hope she watches her husband die when they hang him.

[Fox_Rush_Parrot]

This reminds me of the time before the Iraq war when Saddam was offered a similar deal. I wonder if this criminal will get out while he still can!