PARIS: France will launch strikes if proof emerges that the Syrian regime has used banned chemical weapons against its civilians, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.
鈥淲e will strike the place where these launches are made or where they are organized,鈥� Macron told the presidential press corps.
鈥淏ut today our services have not established proof that proscribed chemical weapons have been used against civilian populations,鈥� he added.
鈥淎s soon as such proof is established, I will do what I said,鈥� Macron warned, while adding that 鈥渢he priority is the fight against the terrorists, the jihadists.鈥�
Regarding the Syrian regime itself, either during or after the conflict; 鈥渋t will be answerable to international justice鈥� he added.
Macron also called for an international meeting on Syria, in the region if possible.
In a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Macron said he was 鈥渨orried about indications suggesting the possible use of chlorine on several occasions against the civilian population in Syria these last few weeks.鈥�
Russia has intervened alongside Syrian regime forces in the seven-year civil war and Putin is seen as the foreign leader with the most influence over Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Receiving Putin at Versailles in May 2017, Macron had declared that France would respond immediately to any use of chemical weapons in Syria.
鈥淎 very clear red line exists on our side: the use of chemical weapons by anyone,鈥� Macron said, promising 鈥渞etaliation and an immediate response from France.鈥�
According to Washington, at least six chlorine attacks have been reported since early January in rebel areas, with dozens injured.
The Syrian government in late January denied carrying out chemical weapons attacks and its ally Moscow denounced the charges as a 鈥減ropaganda campaign,鈥� stressing that the perpetrators had not been identified.
While France, like the United States, suspects the Syrian regime, it says it does not yet have concrete evidence on the nature and origin of the attacks.
On Wednesday last week, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said 鈥渁ll indications鈥� suggest that Assad鈥檚 forces were using chlorine weapons in the civil war against rebel forces, but being cautious said 鈥渨e haven鈥檛 completely documented this.鈥�
But Defense Minister Florence Parly was more reserved on Friday when asked if Damascus had crossed the 鈥渞ed line.鈥�
鈥淎t the moment because we don鈥檛 know what happened and the consequences of what happened, we can鈥檛 say we are where you say we are,鈥� she told France Inter radio when asked about the 鈥渞ed line鈥� Macron had set out in May.
鈥淲e have some indications of the use of chlorine, but we do not have absolute confirmation, so it is this confirmation work that we are doing with others because obviously we have to establish the facts,鈥� she said.
Damascus has repeatedly been accused of using chemical weapons, with the United Nations among those blaming government forces for an April 2017 sarin gas attack on the opposition-held village of Khan Sheikhun that left scores dead.
France will strike if evidence of chemical weapon use appears in Syria: Macron
-
{{#bullets}}
- {{value}} {{/bullets}}