Aspiring spy boss Tulsi Gabbard defended most of her controversial foreign policy takes during a lively Senate hearing Thursday, including her meeting with former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and her prior doubts about the legitimacy of US intelligence on his use of chemical weapons against his own people.

Critics blasted the meeting as legitimizing Assad four years after he used lethal chemical weapons on Syrian civilians. "It was common knowledge that Assad was gassing the civilian population,

The new government of Syria has demanded that the aggressor country of russia extradite former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who fled the country in

Russia deployed troops to Syria in 2015 to support Assad regime's brutal crackdown against anti-government forces.

Syria has demanded reparations from Russia in order to "rebuild trust" after a meeting between Damascus' new administration and a Moscow delegation, according to local news sources. Russia and Syria's meeting to discuss future relations comes as Moscow looks to retain its two military bases in the Middle Eastern country.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani visited Damascus on Thursday, the first visit by a head of state to the Syrian capital since the Dec. 8 fall of President Bashar al-Assad to an Islamist rebel offensive.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said discussions with a Qatari delegation in Damascus Thursday included reconstruction in the war-torn country, during the first visit by a head of state sinc