Syrian actor dares Assad to do 'snow bucket challenge'

A Syrian actor has dared President Bashar al-Assad to take part in a “snow bucket challenge” so as to empathise with the plight of the increasingly desperate Syrian population.

In a video posted on YouTube, Ehab Yousef gets himself covered in snow and dares the president to come out in the cold for two minutes with his children or spend a night in a camp.

In the video he argues that Assad "needs to come out from his hideout and show support for the people who are dying in the refugee camps.”

"Think of us when you are warm".

"I urge all the people around the world to donate whatever they can - money, medicine, blankets - to help the desperate refugees in the camps,” he said.

The campaign is a pastiche of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which saw famous celebrities throwing buckets cold water over their heads to raise awareness for motor neurone disease. Participants included George W. Bush, Leonardo DiCaprio and Benedict Cumberbatch were among those who took part.

So far, Assad has yet to respond to the challenge.

Last week, the newborn daughter of two Syrian refugees froze to death in a refugee camp in Lebanon's eastern Akkar province amid a snowstorm that struck the entire region this week, a medical source has said.

Two-month-old Salam Barghal became the third Syrian child to die from cold in Lebanon, bringing total fatalities among Syrian refugees in the country due to the snowstorm to five.

Snowstorm "Zeina," also known as "Huda," struck a handful of Middle East countries last week prompting emergency alerts from local authorities.

Some 1.2 million Syrians have sought refuge in Lebanon since civil war erupted in their country more than three years ago, according to UN figures.