Nicolas Sarkozy and Bashar al-Assad

"Landep News"

Nicolas Sarkozy and Bashar al-Assad

French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday said that the president of Syria was acting like a criminal and should be referred to the International Criminal Court. He urged that humanitarian corridors be allowed to permit medical assistance to the refugees and to the wounded.

In an interview for Radio Europe 1, Sarkozy said that in order for the corridors to become operational, the international community needs to unlock the position of China and Russia in the United Nations Security Council.

Sarkozy also said that French troops cannot intervene in Syria unless they have an U.N. mandate. France led the coalition of the willing that imposed a no-fly zone on Libya last year, when the president Muammar al-Qaddafi was toppled and killed by the rebels.

Sarkozy reached out to both Bashar al-Assad and Muammar al-Qaddafi last year, before things started to get ugly for both of them, in an attempt to make them renounce their bid for domination of their nations before it was too late.

The idea that Assad was a murderer was expressed by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously, as he said that Bashar would not enjoy the fate of his father, who managed to get away with murder in the 1980s.

The British prime minister last week said Assad’s regime was “illegitimate and criminal,” and demanded of the leader of the regime to step down and produce a change from top to bottom in Syria.

The idea that the regime must pay for the crimes committed in Syria was uttered by U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton, who had said that what Assad had done in Syria must become subject of the international criminal law.

As evidence is gathering, it becomes more and more apparent that what happened in Syria amounts to crimes against humanity. The European Union has also said that evidence is being gathered for a trial after Assad is no more president of Syria.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission has already passed a resolution condemning the human rights violations in Syria, and the United Nations Security Council is expected to be able to pass a resolution on Syria after two previous resolutions were thwarted by the veto of Russia and China.

The new resolution is expected to meet the Russian demand of addressing to both governmental troops and the rebels, which are compelled to withdraw from their position as a condition of the ceasefire agreement.

International envoy Kofi Anan has returned from Syria after a two-day trip, where he attempted to talk Assad into ending violence, with no serious consequences however.

Meanwhile, the regime is continuing its offensive in the field, and the northern city of Idlib, at the border with Turkey, is reportedly retaken by the Syrian governmental troops, after the Free Syrian Army, formed of the defectors of the governmental army, had to retreat. Pockets of resistance were still noticed in the region.

On Monday, the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that the death toll of the conflict in the Arab country has come to 8,000.

Speaking about the other case where France was involved, Libya, Nicolas Sarkozy said that a country that is three as large as France and with a population of mere 6 millions needs some time to settle and should be offered some.

Libyan eastern population last week held a referendum by which the eastern province of Cyrenaica proclaimed semi-autonomy, stating that it wanted the future state of Libya conceived as a federal state, with three autonomous regions that have self-government.

The move was considered very dangerous by the central leaders in Tripoli, who asserted that they would defend the integrity of the country by force, if necessary.

The topics on the international agenda Sarkozy is approaching are meant to increase his popularity as he runs for president in France, and the recent polls showed that he took the lead in the polls for the first time in months.

Even so, the advantage is fragile and refers to the first round of elections, scheduled for April 22. If a second round were to occur, and most certainly will, Sarkozy would loose to Francois Hollande by 55 to 45.

Thank's for link:

Tweet