French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that the way in which Bashar al-Assad dealt with the protests in Syria has led to the death of 220,000 people, adding that the Assad regime and ISIS are but two sides of the same coin.
He also said that Assad paved the way for the emergence of terrorist groups when he released of prisoners accused of belonging to terrorist organizations, pointing that arguing that Bashar al-Assad is the savior after over 220,000 were killed and millions displaced is meaningless.
Fabius stresses that “the solution in Syria should be political without including Bashar al-Assad, adding that France is working on this with others such as Russia and Arab countries in order to reach an agreement to preserve the unity of Syria and to preserve the rights of minorities.
Spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition Salem al-Meslet stresses that “Assad’s departure is still a basic requirement for agreeing to engage in any political settlement,” pointing out that this is and always will be the basic demand of the Syrian people, who have sacrificed dearly towards this end.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
