Does Assad meeting signal a shift in France's policy?
A secret visit by French parliamentarians to Damascus is raising questions about a possible major shift in France's Syria policy.
In late February a French parliamentary delegation secretly flew into Damascus, where its members met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a move seen by many in Paris as a sign that Elysee has revised its policy on Syria. Like many of its Western partners, the French government had ruled out talks with the Assad regime as the Syrian conflict brewed into civil war. The visiting delegation from the French National Assembly and Senate consisted of Gerard Bapt, a deputy from the governing Socialist Party; Senator Jean-Pierre Vial, a member of the main opposition Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and chairman of the France-Syria Friendship Group; Jacques Myard, a UMP parliamentarian; and Senator Francois Zocchetto, a member of the Centrist Alliance.
Official ties between the two countries were severed in March 2012, when France withdrew its diplomats from Syria. Since that time, “Assad must go” has defined Quai d'Orsay's Syria policy. There have, however, been recent attempts at dialogue between the two governments.
With France prominent among the countries from which jihadist recruits originate, the two countries’ intelligence services were the first to make contact, in December 2013. The French decided that it was imperative to talk with the regime after jihadists began returning to launch bloody attacks at home. The French General Directorate for External Security asked the Mukhabarat, the Syrian intelligence service, to share information on French nationals fighting with jihadist factions, but when Damascus conditioned cooperation on reopening the French Embassy, the talks collapsed.
The French Foreign Ministry reportedly had approved the secret visit provided the delegates not meet with Assad. On Feb. 24, the delegation had an intensive day of talks with Syrian officials, including People’s Assembly Chairman Mohamed Jiham Laham and Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, and visited a hospital. The Frenchmen were taken by surprise the next morning when they were escorted to the presidential palace.
