France signals softer stance on Assad after Russia talks



Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris and Kathrin Hille in Moscow

France has signalled a softening of its stance towards Syrian president Bashar al-Assad by suggesting the regime’s soldiers could fight alongside opposition groups against Isis, the Islamist militant group responsible for killing 130 people in the Paris attacks.

Laurent Fabius, French foreign minister, said that winning back Raqqa, Isis’s self-styled administrative capital, was a priority for western powers. This would require a co-ordinated assault with boots on the ground, potentially including soldiers from the Syrian regime, he told RTL radio.

“Two sorts of measures are required: the bombings, and troops on the ground, which could include Free Syrian army forces, Sunni Arab forces and — why not? — regime forces,” said Mr Fabius.

The comments highlight a shift in the position of France, which has, up until now, considered Mr Assad as a pariah.

In 2013, French president François Hollande sought to bomb the regime’s chemicals storage plants after it became clear to Paris that Mr Assad was using chemical weapons against his own people. France fell short of sending jets after the US and the UK backtracked.

Mr Hollande has since insisted that the Syrian leader could not be part of a political transition in Syria, reckoning that it would foster divisions rather than reconciliation.

But the attacks on Paris seem to have changed the priorities for France, which has sought help from Russia, a longtime ally of Mr Assad, to intensify the fight against Isis.

Mr Fabius said on Friday: “We do not say [Mr Assad’s departure] has to happen immediately. There is no chance for him to be elected, if the elections are lawful.”

The French foreign minister saluted “progress” made between Mr Putin and Mr Hollande on Thursday in Moscow, with Mr Putin agreeing not to target opposition groups on the ground.

Mr Putin “asked us to put together a map of the forces that are not terrorists and combating Daesh [Isis],” Mr Fabius said, adding that Mr Putin “committed to not bombing those groups as soon as we supply this map, which we will do”.

Russia’s pledge to spare Syrian opposition groups if the west identifies them is not new. Moscow has been calling on members of the US-led coalition against Isis for weeks to provide names and locations of groups which the coalition did not want Moscow to target in its air strikes, but the US has so far held back.

All sides agreed at the Syria negotiations in Vienna earlier this month to jointly define which of Syria’s armed opposition groups are terrorists, yet controversy over Russia’s air strikes remains.

On Thursday, the leaders of France and Russia held more than three hours of talks at the Kremlin about Syria. After the talks, Mr Hollande said he and Mr Putin had agreed on three basic points.

“First, we will intensify the exchange of intelligence and any other information between our militaries.

Second, the strikes on Isis will intensify and become part of a co-ordinated campaign in order to make them more efficient.
Third, and Mr Putin also stressed this, we must focus our air strikes on Isis and other terrorist groups.”

Referring to the Paris attacks and the bombing that brought down a Russian civilian aircraft over Egypt four weeks ago, Mr Putin vowed that Russia and France would “stand united in our determination to find the perpetrators and punish them”

Mr Hollande reiterated his position that Mr Assad “cannot play a role in the future of this country” but Mr Putin rebuffed him, repeating his standard phrase that only the Syrian people could determine the future of their country.

“We all agree that it’s impossible to defeat terrorists in Syria without ground operations,” Mr Putin said.

“There are no forces other than the Syrian government troops. Therefore Mr Assad and his government are our natural allies in this.”

The issue of widely diverging goals of the external actors in the Syrian war gained renewed urgency after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet on Tuesday, which it said had violated its airspace.

Ankara’s move is believed to have been partly motivated by the fact that Russia’s air force has been bombarding Turkmen villages in northern Syria, home to an ethnic group that Turkey views as an ally.

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Ankara had not recognised the aircraft as Russian when it shot it down.

Following a slew of announcements of economic retaliation against Turkey, Mr Putin angrily dismissed this claim as “impossible” and said Russia had provided the US with information on the time and location of its sorties.

Turska obustavila letove iznad Sirije

Odluka o obustavi letova iznad Sirije doneta je nakon incidenta u kom je turska avijacija iznad sirijske teritorije oborila ruski bombarder Su-24.

Avioni turskog Ratnog vazduhoplovstva obustavili su letove iznad teritorije Sirije u okviru operacije međunarodne koalicije protiv Islamske države nakon incidenta sa obaranjem ruskog Su-24, saopštio je u petak list „Hurijet“, pozivajući se na diplomatske izvore.
U utorak je u Siriji oboren ruski bombarder Su-24. Predsednik Rusije Vladimir Putin saopštio je da je avion oboren raketom tipa vazduh-vazduh, ispaljene sa turskog aviona F-16 iznad sirijske teritorije i pao u Siriju, četiri kilometra od granice sa Turskom. Ruski predsednik je nazvao ovaj incident „nožem u leđa“ od strane saučesnika terorista. Ministarstvo odbrane je saopštilo da će sada sve akcije ruske avijacije biti izvođene pod zaštitom sistema S-400 i krstarice „Moskva“.


Опширније: http://rs-lat.sputniknews.com/svet/2015 ... z3sgxVvOyq




Ja sultana i govana.

Turci povrijedili grčki zračni prostor u 2015. do sada 1.233 puta. rt.com