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France says Syria situation stagnant, no positive signs
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius holds a news conference at NATO headquarters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels December 4, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Yves Herman
PARIS |
PARIS (Reuters) - The French foreign minister said on Thursday there was no sign the Syrian crisis was going to be resolved anytime soon, in contrast to his prediction last month that the end was near for President Bashar al-Assad.
"Things are not moving. The solution that we had hoped for, and by that I mean the fall of Bashar and the arrival of the coalition to power, has not happened," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in his annual New Year's address to the press.
The uprising against Assad's rule is now in its 22nd month. More than 60,000 Syrians have been killed and another 650,000 are now refugees abroad, according to the United Nations.
France, a former colonial ruler of Syria, has been one of the most vocal backers of the rebels trying to topple Assad and was the first to recognize the opposition coalition.
Fabius told RFI radio in December "the end is nearing" for Assad. On Thursday, he said international mediation and discussions about the crisis that began in March 2011 were not getting anywhere.
"There are no recent positive signs," he said.
He said Syrian opposition leaders and representatives of some 50 nations and organizations would meet in Paris on January 28 to discuss how to fulfill previous commitments. He did not elaborate.
While France has ruled out sending the rebels weapons, it has pushed the European Union to review its arms embargo.
Syrian state television showed footage of Assad at a mosque service on Thursday celebrating the birth of Prophet Mohammad.
Dressed in a suit and clean-shaven, the president and Syrian officials sat down for the service. Assad then shook hands with government members and smiled but did not make a speech.
Paris and other Western allies have so far failed to convince Russia and China, who have continued to support Assad, to change their stance.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister scoffed at the idea of a negotiated settlement to the crisis.
(Reporting by John Irish; Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Alexandria Sage and Sonya Hepinstall)
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Ok, if everything said so far is true, here is my plan. The Syrian regime should give a kalashnikov and a 1,000 rounds of ammunition to every Syrian Sunni male with instructions that it is their patriotic duty to protect the borders from these infiltrators. Maybe give 1 in every 100 Sunni men a tank or artillery piece to help with the enforcement. This plan would increase the number of border patrol agents and security people a 100 fold, maybe a 1,000 fold. This should substantially stem the flow of “terrorists” and arms into the country the first day. Good idea or Great idea?
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