PARIS, Jan 20 (KUNA) -- The French Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a military option to resolve the Syrian crisis was "not valid" and was not a scenario being examined.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero indicated that France was in full support of the Arab League plan to end the crisis but both Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and his spokesman excluded military intervention or the deployment of Arab forces in Syria as has been proposed by Qatar.
"We are in direct dialogue with Qatar, which is playing a major role in mobilising the Arab League to put an end to the repression in Syria," Valero remarked.
"For France, the military option is not valid," he stressed.
Juppe had told the regional press earlier that a military intervention in Syria was not "a scenario" being looked at.
But France intends to remain active in denouncing the situation in Syria, the spokesman added, noting earlier statements to the diplomatic corps by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"France will not shut up faced with the Syrian scandal," Valero quoted Sarkozy as telling diplomats.
The French official repeated his government's position that "the conditions in which the (Arab League) observer mission is taking place are not satisfactory. Syria is not respecting the commitments it made relative to the Arab League".
He said France would continue to pursue a "substantial resolution" in the UN Security Council on Syria and wants the Arab League to submit its forthcoming report on the observer mission to the Security Council. (End) jk.ajs KUNA 201652 Jan 12NNNN