Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Sunday, April 28th, 2024

Defense Meeting on Syria Scheduled for Thursday in Paris: Hollande

Defense Meeting on Syria Scheduled  for Thursday in Paris: Hollande

PARIS - French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday announced a restraint defense meeting on Syrian conflict scheduled for Thursday, five weeks after Paris joined U.S.-led coalition conducted first air strikes on Islamic State (IS) targets in the Arab country.

In an interview with the local broadcaster Europe1, Hollande said to head a meeting with concerned ministers and major army chiefs to discuss the developments of French air offensive in Syria and the next moves to take in the fight against IS.

Asked whether French fighter jets would continue strikes in Syria, the French president said "whenever we have information on training camps where there are jihadists, terrorists, which could,  at one time or another, threaten our country, we strike."

France, a harsh critics of the Syrian regime, had previously ruled out any military intervention in the conflict-torn Arab country out of fears of benefiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Rebuffing the proposal to support the Syrian government to be a part of international efforts to end the four-year-conflict, Hollande set al-Assad's leave a key condition to start the process of democratic transition in Syria.

"The only solution", according to Hollande, to resolve the Syrian conflict was the organization of elections in which "al-Assad can not be a candidate".  (Xinhua)