Local Editor

French President Francois Hollande lamented on Friday the deadlock over Syria, lashing out at Russia over its stance on Syria.

Hollande said that although he will try to convince the Syrian opposition to negotiate with others than the Syrian leader, "the Russians still need to reach out and convince Bashar al-Assad to stand aside".

"For the moment we're still not there," he added.

In a statement later Friday, the French presidential office said Hollande had congratulated Syrian opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib on the Arab League's recent decision to recognize the Coalition as the so-called "legitimate representative of the Syrian people".
Hollande "supports al-Khatib's initiative of proposing a political dialogue" and "reiterates France's consistent stance that a transition involves the departure of Bashar Assad", it said.

During a meeting with the Zionist entity's President Shimon Peres, Hollande also addressed "Israel's" new government and expressed his hope that it would work to promote peace with the Palestinians.
"France stands by "Israel" and the Palestinians and will assist in any way possible to promote peace. We will continue to invest in the economy of the Palestinian Authority," he stated.
In parallel, Hollande reiterated the fact the expansion of settlement in the West Bank was a hindrance to the peace process.

For his part, Peres commended Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in saying that he fights against terror and is a supporter of peace.
As for the Iranian issue, Hollande noted that his country believed that "economic sanctions against Iran should be aggravated."
Peres claimed that the "Iranians were playing a dangerous game and might miss the last change that the international community was giving them."

In response, Holland stressed that "If Iran advances the development of nuclear weapon, it will be the international community, not only "Israel", that will take the responsibility to prevent it. Iran is not only a danger to "Israel" , but also a real danger to the countries of the Persian Gulf, to Europe and the world."
On another level, Peres pressured that Hizbullah must be blacklisted as a terror group by the international community. "Hizbullah was ruining Lebanon from the inside, cooperating with al-Assad in Syria, representing Iran and continuously harboring missiles."


Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org