Date : 06/06/2012
PARIS, June 6 (KUNA) -- The French Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed
as a "masquerade" the appointment of a new Prime Minister in Syria and the
decision to form a government after the recent parliamentary elections in that
country.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has called on Riad Hijab to form a new
government but France says this is just another avoidance tactic.
"Bashar Al-Assad remains obstinately deaf to the demands of his people,"
the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"After the organisation of flawed 'legislative elections' last month, this
appointment (of Hijab) is a new evasion, a masquerade, which does not answer
the expectations of Syrians or the international community," the statement
added.
France is currently organising a "Friends of Syria" meeting for "early
July" and is also eagerly awaiting the testimony of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi
Annan in front of the UN Security Council on Thursday.
The French ambassador was declared "persona non grata" by Damascus on
Tuesday, but the French embassy has already been closed for some time after
France on May 28 took a similar measure against the Syrian ambassador to
Paris. (end)
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