Garden Grove : Dornan to Visit Syria in Effort to Free Hostages
Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) announced Thursday that he is planning a trip to Syria to present a bipartisan letter from the House asking for help in freeing five American hostages in Lebanon.
The message, signed over the past few weeks by 247 House members, asks Syrian President Hafiz Al Assad to “flex his recognized muscle to break the American hostage crisis,” said a statement from Dornan’s office.
Dornan, an outspoken conservative, hopes to present the message in person to Assad on Saturday, although a face-to-face meeting between the two has yet to be confirmed, the statement said.
Neither the congressman nor his aides were immediately available to release details on Dornan’s departure for Damascus, which was expected sometime Thursday night.
Dornan is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee but is paying for the trip himself and calling it a “humanitarian mission,” the statement said.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
