French President Francois Hollande said yesterday that negotiations with the Assad regime are conditional on stopping the blind bombardments and starving whole cities, which he considered a flagrant violation of international law.
In a press statement released by the Elysee Palace on Monday following the French president’s meeting with Riad Hijab, chief coordinator of the opposition’s Supreme Negotiating Committee, Hollande called for sending immediate humanitarian aid to Syria, especially the besieged towns, including Madaya.
The French president stressed the need to implement, without delay, UN Security Council resolution 2254, which calls for the establishment of a political transition in Syria based on the Geneva Communiqué of 2012. He also stressed that Bashar al-Assad cannot play a role in Syria’s future.
Hollande reiterated France’s full support for the plan the Syrian opposition unanimously adopted in the Riyadh conference, welcoming the Syrian opposition’s willingness to resume negotiations with the Assad regime based on a specific agenda.
Hollande stressed that the will of the regime to negotiate would be judged by its cessation of indiscriminate bombing and ending the policy of starving whole cities.
Yesterday, the Syrian Coalition said “the international community must act quickly against Russia’s flagrant crimes against the Syrian people including children, women and the elderly. Russia’s actions in Syria, while representing a continuation of Assad’s terror since the start of Syrian revolution, are designed to break the will of the Syrian people and undermine the political solution.”
The Syrian Coalition reiterated that “the crimes committed by the Assad regime and its allies represent a clear violation of UN Security Council resolution 2254 which calls for immediate cessation of all attacks against civilians. The silence of the international community over the crimes of the Assad regime and its allies against Syrian civilians as well as its complete disregard for their blood is a shameful stain on humanity.” (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)
