Manchester City ’s billionaire owner is facing a furious backlash after he was pictured hugging Syria’s mass-murdering tyrant Bashar al-Assad.
Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was also seen strolling with the president, who has used chemical weapons on his own citizens.
Last night Chris Bryant MP questioned whether the sheikh was a “fit and proper person to be owning a football club” and said it would be “good to see the back of him”.
He added there has been “barbarous, sustained murder going on in Syria” under Assad.
Sheikh Mansour, worth an estimated £17billion, met the Syrian leader this week in his native United Arab Emirates.
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It was Assad’s first trip to an Arab country since the Syrian civil war began 11 years ago.
The trip, branded “profoundly disappointing” by the US, is seen as a warming of relations between the nations
Amnesty International said both Assad and the UAE are guilty of“human rights violations and war crimes”.
Its Kristyan Benedict said: “Many Man City fans would be disgusted to be associated with Assad and his torture state.”
It comes after Chelsea FC’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned over links to Russia ’s president Vladimir Putin.
Manchester City FC was approached for comment.
