A fact-finding mission to Syria “was a gut-wrenching trip” for a delegation from the county but one which has led to new relationships.

Syrian VIPs are now enjoying a taste of Kent gin and wine after two councillors visited the area.

Syria has been in the news again - but this time in a good way - with the country’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, signing a constitutional declaration covering a five-year transitional period to democracy.

He has also announced an agreement on mutual recognition and political integration with the Kurds who control much of the state’s territory in the north of the country.

One man with a better understanding of the country than most is the Deputy Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Martin Round, who two weeks ago, returned from a private fact-finding mission to Iraq and Syria, and in particular to the northern region where there is a large Kurdish population.

Cllr Round said: “Years ago, I had a career as an economic development advisor, specialising in regeneration, and also had a role as an election monitor in budding democracies.

“The secretary of the League of Kurdistan Nations, Ihsan Qadir, is an old friend and he invited me to join a fact-finding mission to the Kurdistan area in Syria.”

Cllr Round travelled to the Middle East with Cllr Karen Constantine, the KCC member for Ramsgate, and with Roger Lyons, a former president of the TUC.

The delegation first had to visit the Foreign Office in London to gain clearance for the trip - travel to Syria is still officially discouraged, especially as two Westerners had been kidnapped just the week before.

Cllr Round said: “We flew to Erbil in Iraq, where we were hosted by the president of the Kurdish autonomous region, and then travelled by road into northern Syria - crossing the Euphrates River over a pontoon bridge.”

He said: “It was interesting. There are thousands of Syrian refugees in the UK, but Syria wants them back to help rebuild the country.

“The problem is that it is still dangerous and people don’t know who they can trust.

“There’s still a lot of still civil unrest and the possibility of another civil war.

“The Kurds generally control a broken northern Syria, but there are few links for trade and other movement. Their airport is closed.

“There is no electricity, other than from generators. There is only cold dripping water on supply.

“And yet you see nodding oil donkeys and tankers on all the roads.”

Cllr Round said: “I went initially with a view to economic redevelopment, but the visit soon developed more of a humanitarian aspect.

“It was a gut-wrenching trip, but I will go back.”

Cllr Round was in Syria just 48 hours after having his position as deputy mayor confirmed at a Maidstone council meeting.

He took bottles of Maidstone gin and Balfour sparkling wine with him as gifts for the local VIPs.

Cllr Round said: “It was a private visit with the mission of establishing new friendships and generating bonds that might lead to new trade opportunities.

“We met governors and mayors, but had to be escorted everywhere by regional government personnel in big black ‘protocol’ vehicles.”

Despite his being a Conservative, and Cllr Constantine then being Labour, Cllr Round said the pair had got on famously: “We made a great double-act.”

They were interviewed by the Syrian state TV and by the TV in the Kurdistan area.

He said: “It was strange. A press corps followed us everywhere; helicopters with machine guns circled around us, and the public mobbed me calling me ‘Mr England’!”

Cllr Round said: “People know so little about the real Syria - even in my own council chamber.

“Some of the sights were pretty horrible - cratered roads, people queuing at soup kitchens. The poverty and deprivation moved me to tears sometimes.”

However, he found reason for optimism.

He said: “The people are determined to get a better life, and the women we met were particularly strong characters.”

Cllr Round said: “I’m not sure how much credit we can claim for the new accord between the Syrian government and the Kurds, but I like to think our visit helped focus attention in some way.”

Since the visit, Cllr Constantine has quit the Labour party in protest at its benefit cuts.

In further good news, the Kurdish PKK guerilla movement, who have for years been fighting the Turkish state for decades, have agreed to lay down their arms after reaching an accord with President Erdogan of Turkey.

The Kurds are a stateless nation of up to 45 million people living in the Kurdistan mountains of west Asia. They span four states: southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq and northern Syria.