PARIS, Feb 29 (KUNA) -- The French Senate on Wednesday strongly condemned the repression being carried out by the Syrian government but ruled out any external, armed intervention to end the crisis and also refused to support weapons' deliveries for the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
In a statement, the Foreign Affairs Commission at the Senate said that there was "massive, systematic and daily violence perpetrated against civilian populations in Syria by the regime of Bashar Al-Assad." The Commission met in "extraordinary" session in view of the worsening crisis and the high toll on civilians. Close to 8,000 people are believed to have died in the past year in the Syrian crisis.
"France and the international community must do everything to avoid that this country becomes a bed of instability in an extremely sensitive region," the Commission said, noting the "merciless repression of populations opposed to the regime" in Syria.
Full support was expressed for the efforts of Foreign Minister Alain Juppe to try to bring an end to the conflict and the Commission urged the European Union to adopt a unified position on the issue.
"The Commission approves the refusal of the French government to arm opposition forces and the refusal of the hypothesis of an outside military intervention," the statement affirmed. (end) jk.mt KUNA 292254 Feb 12NNNN