PARIS 23 May (Online): Syrian President Bashar Assad should be put on trial following \u201chundreds of thousands of deaths\u201d and \u201cchemical arms use\u201d during the country\u2019s civil war, the French foreign minister said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Asked during a television interview if she wanted Assad to be tried, Catherine Colonna said \u201cthe answer is yes,\u201d adding that \u201cthe battle against crime, against impunity is part of French diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assad last week returned to the regional scene with an appearance at a summit of the Arab League, an international organization he had been banned from for a decade.<\/p>\n
Colonna nevertheless said Paris would not be changing its policy toward the Syrian ruler.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to remember who Bashar Assad is. He\u2019s a leader who has been the enemy of his own people for more than 10 years,\u201d she said.
\nA lifting of European Union sanctions on the Syrian regime was \u201ccertainly not\u201d planned, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo long as he doesn\u2019t change, so long as he doesn\u2019t commit to reconciliation, to the fight against terrorism, the fight against drugs… so long as he doesn\u2019t fulfil his commitments, there\u2019s no reason to change our attitude toward him,\u201d Colonna said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s up to him to change, it\u2019s not up to France to change our attitude,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS 23 May (Online): Syrian President Bashar Assad should be put on trial following \u201chundreds of thousands of deaths\u201d and \u201cchemical arms use\u201d during the country\u2019s civil war, the French foreign minister said on Tuesday. Asked during a television interview if she wanted Assad to […]<\/p>\n
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