The party said the delegation, which met several government figures last week, aimed to “show solidarity with the Syrian people and their nation”, as well as warn against the “deadly consequences” of any western military intervention into the war, The Guardian wrote in a report.

A photograph on Twitter appeared to show members of the WikiLeaks party with the Syrian President.

According to Buzzfeed, a Syrian television report showed the party chairman, John Shipton – the father of the party’s founder, Julian Assange – telling officials including Syria’s prime minister and deputy foreign minister: “We’ll continue to expose the truth to the Australian people and to our international audience, and next year we will set up an office in Damascus.”

A blogpost on the party website said it could not give details about the delegation owing to security concerns.

“While the WikiLeaks party recognizes the needs for political reforms in Syria and to fight against corruption and abuses of human rights, it does not support achieving this by violence, western military intervention and destruction of the country,” the blogpost said.

“The western military intervention in Libya proves that any similar intervention in Syria would have resulted in devastating consequences.

“The WikiLeaks party openly and strongly supports peaceful negotiation as the only way out of the deadly crisis.”

The post added that the delegation would send a “clear message” that violence should not be used to change governments.

The war in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

According to the United Nations, more than 120,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million of others displaced due to the violence.

SHI/SHI