French Minister's Remarks On Assad 'Nothing But Political Posturing' - Syrian Lawmaker

Faizan Hashmi Published May 25, 2023 | 10:12 PM

Tarek Ahmad, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), told Sputnik on Thursday that French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna's remarks regarding Syrian President Bashar Assad are "nothing but political posturing

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2023) Tarek Ahmad, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), told Sputnik on Thursday that French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna's remarks regarding Syrian President Bashar Assad are "nothing but political posturing."

On Tuesday, Colonna said in a television interview that Assad should be put on trial for "hundreds of thousands of deaths" and "the use of chemical weapons" during the civil war in Syria.

"Colonna's remarks are nothing but political posturing; we are used to it coming from French diplomats," Ahmad said.

He added that there is evidence that French industrial company Lafarge is supporting the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) with the knowledge of the French government.� � �

"This French (minister's) statement is nothing but political chit-chat, because the Arab world's openness towards Syria will soon cut the ground from under the feet of France and other Western countries that want to meddle in Syria's affairs," Ahmad said.

Earlier in May, the League of Arab States foreign ministers approved Syria's readmission to the organization during an extraordinary meeting in Cairo, ending a 12-year hiatus caused by the suspension of the country's membership in connection with the civil war.

The war in Syria has been going on since 2011, with Assad's forces battling various armed insurgent groups. In 2017, Russia, Turkey, and Iran launched a mediation group on the Syrian settlement in Astana. In January 2018, the Russian city of Sochi hosted a congress of the Syrian National Dialogue, the first such attempt since the beginning of the conflict to bring together an inclusive pool of Syrian political forces. The main outcome of the congress was the decision to create a constitutional committee, which will operate out of Geneva and whose main task will be to prepare for constitutional reform in Syria.