Syria revokes BBC media accreditation

The Syrian government has revoked the BBC's media accreditation due to what it called "biased and misleading reports".

The Syrian Ministry of Information stated that the British broadcaster did not adhere to "professional standards", the BBC reported.

A recent BBC story linked the amphetamine-type drug captagon to the family of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Published last month, BBC News Arabic Investigations revealed links between the captagon drug trade, senior members of the Syrian armed forces, and Assad's family.

Captagon is an amphetamine-like drug that is highly addictive. The Syrian government has previously denied any involvement in drug trafficking.

The Syrian government did not specifically mention the captagon report in its statement. It stated that the BBC, since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, had occasionally provided "subjective and false information". It added that the BBC had been warned "multiple times" but "continued to broadcast its misleading reports based on statements... from terrorist entities and those hostile to Syria".