Syria on Wednesday described France’s attitude as “hysteria” after statements the day before by its head of diplomacy saying she was in favor of a trial of President Bashar al-Assad.
Questioned on Tuesday on the France 2 television channel by a journalist who asked her: “Do you want him to be tried? Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said: “The answer is yes. The fight against crimes, against impunity is one of the values of French diplomacy. »
“We have recently been following the hysteria and isolated positions of French diplomacy, which have lost their meaning after the historic decisions of the Arab summit in Saudi Arabia on Syria,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. communicated. “French diplomacy against the tide must review its positions,” added the ministry, also accusing France of seeking “to restore the legacy of the colonial era”.
Back on the regional scene
Bashar al-Assad made his return to the regional scene by participating last week in Saudi Arabia at the Arab League summit, after having been excluded for more than a decade.
The French minister underlined that the lifting of the European sanctions imposed since 2011 on the Damascus regime was “certainly not” on the agenda, as well as a change in France’s position vis-à-vis the president Syrian. The Arab League had expelled the Syrian regime at the end of 2011 for its repression of a popular uprising which degenerated into a devastating war, before reinstating it on May 7th.
After the devastating earthquake of February 6 in Syria, the EU and the United States had eased their sanctions imposed on the Syrian government since 2011. The war in Syria, where the fighting has almost ceased, has claimed around 500,000 lives, as well as millions of refugees and displaced persons.