France to submit UN resolution condemning Syrian regime

PARIS

France will submit a new draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling on the Syrian regime to stop using barrel bombs as well as condemning other "indiscriminate attacks" against civilians, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday.

"We have to ensure that the regime stops bombing the civilian population," Fabius told reporters in a joint press conference with the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura in Paris.

Fabius also announced that Paris will host foreign-minister leavel talks on Syria on Oct. 27. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will not be part of the talks, Fabius added.

Fabius reiterated that Syrian President Bashar al -Assad could not be part of any solution since he is the source of the problem and even if he [ Bashar al-Assad] excuses " to everyone in the world" it would not change it.

"We considered that the person who is the principal one responsible for the chaos - 250,000 dead - cannot at the same time be the one (as the solution)," Fabius said.

"If we were to present Bashar al-Assad as the future for Syria, this would again push into the arms of the terrorists all those who are not for Bashar al-Assad -- but who are not for the terrorists either. Thus, the political solution must allow for a different perspective," he added.

"We need it to be clear that the political solution will lead to another perspective, another reality than someone who is a criminal against humanity," said the head of French diplomacy.

De Mistura described the Russian intervention in Syria as "a game-changer" and said it was the time to accelerate the exploration of diplomatic avenues.

"There is no military solution. There is only a political solution... even if the dynamic now is military," said de Mistura.

PARIS

"We have to ensure that the regime stops bombing the civilian population," Fabius told reporters in a joint press conference with the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura in Paris.

Fabius also announced that Paris will host foreign-minister leavel talks on Syria on Oct. 27. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will not be part of the talks, Fabius added.

"We considered that the person who is the principal one responsible for the chaos - 250,000 dead - cannot at the same time be the one (as the solution)," Fabius said.

"We need it to be clear that the political solution will lead to another perspective, another reality than someone who is a criminal against humanity," said the head of French diplomacy.

De Mistura described the Russian intervention in Syria as "a game-changer" and said it was the time to accelerate the exploration of diplomatic avenues.

"There is no military solution. There is only a political solution... even if the dynamic now is military," said de Mistura.