Strasbourg, 14/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced on Wednesday 13 June that France would propose a fresh raft of sanctions targeting those around the Syrian president and military officers. “The pressure has to be increased on the Damascus regime by toughening sanctions. I will be in contact with my European and American colleagues to propose the adoption of a new raft of even more severe measures, aimed not only at Bashar el-Assad but also army officers and anyone providing support to Assad”, Fabius said. He added that “those who assist in the repression” should realise that “a list of intermediaries, including those among the military, will also be drawn up and they will be held to account before the courts”.
Fabius stated, too, that France will bring forward a proposal to the countries on the United Nations Security Council that the measures in the Kofi Annan peace plan should be made compulsory by bringing them under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows sanctions to be taken and force to be used in the event of non-compliance. “That is the way we are going and we hope that the measure will soon be in place”, the minister said.
“France intends to be at the forefront of action against Bashar el-Assad and his crimes”, he added, suggesting that Syria is now in civil war. “When large sections of the same people split asunder and kill one another, if that is not a civil war then there is no way to describe what is happening”, he stated. (CG/transl.rt)