Israel Matzav

State Department: There's no agreement with the Russians

At a lengthy State Department briefing in Geneva on Saturday, it became clear that there is no agreement yet between the US and the Russians on what to do about Syria's chemical weapons stock, and no one has even asked Syria yet.

Meanwhile France is still making noises about taking military action.

But privately there is disquiet in Paris about an accord that some fear could bestow renewed legitimacy on Assad, consolidate his grip on power and stall moves to bolster the opposition coalition that France has championed.

Diplomats say that was reflected in the double-edged statement issued by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in response to the Geneva deal.

While praising it as a "significant step forward", Fabius also emphasized that the next steps should be shaped by the contents of a report, due to be published Monday, by UN inspectors probing the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus.

France's Socialist government unequivocally backed punitive military action in response to what they regard as a watershed moment in Syria's civil war, and Fabius has indicated that he expects the UN report to point a finger of blame in the direction of the regime.

"What we are saying is that the Geneva accord does not settle all accounts," said a well-placed French official. "It is not a stamp of approval for Assad, whom we simply do not trust. There is a lot more involved."

Hmmm.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Bashar al-Assad, chemical weapons, Russia, Syria, United States

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:50 PM