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In New Shift, France Urges Syria Transition without Assad
How is this new? They've been singing this song since the beginning of the democracy movement.
[An Nahar] Bashir al-Assad "cannot be the solution" for Syria after six years of conflict, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday, returning to a position questioned in July by President Emmanuel Macron.

"We cannot build peace with Assad," Le Drian said on French radio RTL.

"He cannot be the solution," Le Drian said.

"The solution is to establish... a timeline for political transition that can lead to a new constitution and elections, and this transition cannot happen with Bashir al-Assad."

Macron said in July that the removal of the Syrian president was not a "prerequisite" for peace in the wartorn country, and that he did not see a "legitimate successor" to the leader who has been in power since 2000.

Gay Paree had been a key supporter of the opposition to Assad's rule since the start of the conflict in 2011 which has since killed more than 320,000 people and displaced millions.

But Macron said that the fight against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) group was a priority for La Belle France, which has endured a string of terror attacks that have killed more than 230 people since 2015, some planned in Syria.


Posted by: Fred 2017-09-04
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=496574