France makes second day of reconnaissance flights over Syria

PARIS, Sept 9 (KUNA) -- France has carried out a second day of reconnaissance flights over Syria, raising speculation that it could carry out military strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the near future, military sources said.
Defence Ministry sources confirmed the flights on Wednesday, an operation which followed reconnaissance flights by two Rafale fighter-bombers on Tuesday, as confirmed by the French government.
On Monday, President Francois Hollande said that he had decided to authorise reconnaissance flights over Syria after several years of refusing to take part in operations there because they might strengthen the position of the Bashar Al-Assad regime.
France consistently blames the Syrian President for this conflict and calls for him to step down to pave the way for a political solution.
France joined the US-led anti-ISIL coalition in Iraq last year and has reportedly been under pressure from the Coalition to expand its operations to Syria.
The French air force has deployed Rafale aircraft to a base it is allowed to use in the UAE and also has Mirage planes based in Jordan. Both strike forces have carried out 200 operations against ISIL targets in Iraq since last year, Defence sources said.
Hollande said on Monday that the reconnaissance flights aim to get a picture of what is happening on the ground in Syria and evaluate targets that might have to be hit later.
There is little doubt here that France will undertake air strikes against ISIL in Syria, but some questions have been raised about the legitimacy and legal mandate for such operations.
Unlike in Iraq, where the government issued a call for international assistance against ISIL, and this legitimises Coalition action, Syria has had no contact with Paris on the subject of overflight or air strikes on its territory.
Asked about any agreement between Paris and Damascus on French air intervention in Syria, officials here said there was no contact between the two estranged governments.
"We have no link with the Regime in Damascus since 2012," Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said in a briefing on Wednesday.
"Our ambassador left Damascus in March 2012 and an end was put to the functions of the Regime's ambassador to Paris in May 2012," he added.
In response to earlier questions on Tuesday, Nadal said that the government here would be addressing the question of legality and legitimacy of French action in the coming days. (end) jk.ibi