In this April 9, 2008 file photo, TV personality Barbara Walters participates in a panel discussion featuring the hosts of ABC's "The View" at The Paley Center for Media, in New York.
NEW YORK (AP) — Barbara Walters is apologizing for trying to help a former aide to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad land a job or get into college in the United States.
Sheherazad Jaafari is the daughter of the Syrian ambassador to the United States and a one-time press aide to Assad. Jaafari played a role in Walters' landing an interview with the Syrian president in December.
[See a Collection of Political Cartoons on Syria.]
After the interview, Walters acknowledged sending letters to try to help Jaafari land a job or get into a college in the U.S. She says Jaafari asked for a job at ABC News, but Walters refused, saying it was a conflict of interest.
But Walters says she realizes the help she offered Jaafari was also a conflict and "I regret that."
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