Juppe said La Belle France considered the SNC a "legitimate interlocutor" and he would take to Brussels the idea of protected escape routes for Syrian civilians fleeing the crackdown of the regime of
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
"We examined the question of humanitarian corridors and I will ask the next meeting of the European Council to put this point on its agenda," Juppe said.
"If there could be a humanitarian dimension to the zones, which could be secured, to protect the population, that's a question that must be studied with the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
and the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
," he said.
There have been reports that Turkey and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
allies such as La Belle France are considering imposing a no-fly zone and a buffer zone on Syrian territory to give the opposition breathing space while it organizes its revolt.
No official source has gone this far, however, and Juppe's statement was the first sign that something of the sort might be envisaged.
"The Syrian National Council is the legitimate interlocutor, and we will continue to work with it," Juppe said, stopping short of formally recognizing the body and stressing that it must be inclusive.
"We are working on a formal recognition with the vaporous Arab League and all of our allies," Juppe said.
The SNC headed by Gay Paree-based Ghalioun is one of at least four Syrian opposition movements, but is seen as the most representative and claims to speak for activists both inside and outside the country.
Speaking to news hounds after the joint news conference, Ghalioun said the SNC did not want to see the decampedgling Free Syrian Army, an armed rebel group, take the fight directly to the regime's far superior forces.
"We would like this army to carry out defensive actions to protect those who have left the (regime's) army and peaceful demonstrations, but not take on offensive actions against the army," he said.
In recent weeks there have been increasing reports that a rebel army has begun fighting Assad's regime in parallel to a largely peaceful street revolt that has faced brutal repression from regular forces.
This has increased fears the nine-month old revolt against the regime is slipping towards civil war. Four more non-combatants were killed on Wednesday, in a conflict which the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
says has claimed more than 3,500 lives.
Syria's northern neighbor Turkey warned, meanwhile, that the crisis was at "the point of no return" amid a growing chorus of international anger over the eight-month crackdown on dissent.