A+ A-

Fabius says Russia realises Al-Assad''s future is limited

PARIS, Nov 28 (KUNA) -- French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday that Russia understands that Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad does not have a long future as a leader in the Middle East but is unprepared to see him replaced with chaos in Syria.
"I don't want to interpret what is in the mind of the Russians, but Moscow recognises that Bashar Al-Assad is, nevertheless, not the president with the biggest future in the Middle East," Fabius said on "France Inter" radio.
"But Moscow simply says that (it) is on board in Syria and, moreover, there should not be chaos, to which we answer that the chaos is here today," Fabius added.
Fabius said that he agreed with Russia in certain of its analyses of the potential for even more widespread chaos if there is a power vacuum.
"We must not end up with an Iraqi scenario whereby after Bashar, there is nothing at all except for jihadists. We are trying to build ... an alternative to Bashar and we hope the Russians will end up understanding this point of view," he noted.
France was the first Western country to recognise the newly-formed Syrian National Coalition (SNC), which is viewed as a potential interim authority in Syria.
On Monday, Paris announced USD 1.5 million in financing for the Syrian body to help with humanitarian aid.(end) jk.wsa KUNA 281341 Nov 12NNNN