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It was a place to gather for coffee, tea and shisha with friends, and was a particular favourite with journalists.

At Rawda Café in central Damascus, just across the road from Parliament, intellectuals gather around long tables to smoke shisha and discuss culture.

He set up a small table and chair on the edge of the shell of the building, overlooking the main street, and smoked his shisha.

He said they met numerous times - in hotels, restaurants and shisha lounges.

This included heading to Nottingham to promote a shisha lounge and omitting the fact she was with six others on the night in question.