Barbara Walters apologizes for helping Assad aide

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.

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."

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)