Assad’s kin in refugee camp seeks asylum in Germany

MUENSTER, Germany: A relative of Syrian President Bashar Assad is living in a refugee camp in northwestern Germany and has applied for asylum, local officials said Monday.

The woman is the widow of one of Assad’s cousins, said Ralf Holtsteige, who heads the Public Order office in Warendorf, according to dpa.

Her application for asylum was rejected, but she has challenged the decision, he said. “We do not know the grounds for the application,” he said.

She has been treated with hostility by her countrymen in the refugee camp, dpa said.

Separately, a group of Syrian doctors based in oppositionheld provinces said that aid had dropped markedly over the last two months because donors were losing interest, according to Reuters.