MESOP INSIDER : WHAT’S ABOUT BASHAR A:? – Report- Assad Suffered “Mini-Stroke” with Brain Clot

January 31 – By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – Syria’s President Assad was treated for a clot on his brain last week in a Beirut hospital and is now recuperating at home, according to reports.A pro-opposition activist, who has been reliable in the past, cited “a highly knowledgeable source in the American University Hospital in Beirut”, where Assad was reportedly treated after initially being taken to a Damascus hospital. The source said the President was flown by helicopter from a Damascus hospital to AUH last Thursday and was released on Saturday, returning to the Presidential Palace. The activist has also privately provided the name of Assad’s doctor for confirmation.

Rumors of Assad’s ill health have been circulating for days, provoking debate in Syrian and Lebanese media. Faisal Qasim, a prominent presenter on Al Jazeera Arabic, said earlier this week, “I assure you that Bashar al-Assad is bedridden.” He claimed Assad has limited movement and called on State TV to show him to deny the rumors.

In an unusual move, the Syrian Presidency issued a statement on Friday to deny the reports. It has previously avoided any comment during Syria’s six-year conflict on rumors that Assad has been killed or injured, or is seriously ill.  An EA source inside Syria notes that the Presidency also issued an unusual denial in November 1983 that then-President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, suffered a heart attack — only for the news to be confirmed days later.

Assad last was shown by State media on January 26, hosting Hossein Amir Abdollahian, a high-ranking Iranian official. www.mesop.de