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France demands Russian pressure on the Syrian regime

April 9, 2014 at 10:44 am

France has asked Russia to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in order to reach a settlement of the crisis after the failure of the Geneva II conference. “We ask the Russians to use all their influence so that Syria, which is persecuted by its leader and his family, will make progress,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Radio Classique.


According to Fabius, it was Syria’s representatives at Geneva II who blocked progress. “Russia had agreed to the idea that the aim of Geneva was the formation of a transitional government, but nothing has happened,” he pointed out.

On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia of encouraging Assad to stay in power. Kerry’s Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, rejected the allegations. “We have done all that we promised concerning the resolution of the Syrian crisis,” he claimed.

The French foreign minister also condemned Moscow for supplying the Syrian regime with weapons in cooperation with Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia ally of Tehran, whose men are in Syria fighting alongside the regular forces loyal to Assad. “We say to those who can use their influence, and I am thinking of the Russians and the Iranians, to do what they can,” said Fabius. “Bashar Al-Assad wouldn’t have done what he is doing if he wasn’t backed up by the Iranians and the Russians; this is clear and obvious.” We won’t get into a world war with Syria, he added, but we, in return, support the moderate, responsible opinion.

Asked about the delay in the process to dispose of Syria’s chemical weapons, the French politician described this as well as the arrest of civilians during the evacuation of the besieged city of Homs as very serious events. “We got a decision to free Homs and Bashar Al-Assad allowed people to leave Homs. Once they came out, he ordered the men to be arrested and then tortured them. It is a terrible regime.”

Since last week, at least 1,370 civilians have been evacuated from Homs, which has been besieged for twenty months by the regime’s forces. The evacuation went ahead under UN supervision after an agreement between the Syrian authorities and opposition fighters.

The government then arrested about 400 men from amongst the evacuees aged between 15 and 55 years old. Half of them were released after interrogation, according to figures from the Syrian authorities and the UN.