French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Monday that “no-one could deny the reality” of the deadly August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria, and that the responsibility lay firmly with the Damascus regime.
Speaking to the press following a meeting of senior lawmakers at which evidence was presented for attacking Syria, Ayrault said France “was determined to punish the use of chemical weapons by the regime of [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad with firm and proportionate action”.
“Action would be neither aimed at toppling the regime nor of liberating Syria,” he added, saying that France still held out for a political solution to the two-and-a-half-year civil war which has claimed more than 100,000 lives.
He added that while French President François Hollande was not constitutionally obliged to get parliamentary approval for a strike, a parliamentary debate “with no vote” would take place on Wednesday.
Report from News 24
Comments to taglines82@gmail.com
