Bordering on sophistry, head of government backed away from this response, ultimately to offer condolences (10)

I believe the answer is:

sympathise

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'bordering on sophistry head' is the definition.
The definition suggests a verb in its base form which matches the answer.

I can't explain the rest of the clue.

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(Other definitions for sympathise that I've seen before include "Express fellow feeling" , "commiserate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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