British Foreign Secretary William Hague has decided, with the agreement of Buckingham Palace, to withdraw the invitation to the Syrian Ambassador for tomorrow's royal wedding, the Foreign Office said.

The invitation had raised a storm of protest in the British Press in view of the Syrian regime's current brutal crackdown on protesters.

The anger grew when it was realised that while the ambassador had been invited, former British Prime Minister Brown and Blair had not been invited while former Conservative Prime Ministers had been.

The Palace said the former Labour premiers are not Knights of the Garter.

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