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France: we could work with Syrian regime troops in ground fight against Isil
Laurent Fabius, the foreign minister, said he could foresee Syrian troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad taking part in the fight to crush the Islamic State group, in a controversial statement welcomed by the regime in Damascus
Troops loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad could be used in any French ground campaign against Islamic State, France's foreign minister said in controversial comments on Friday.
Laurent Fabius said that the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) required two-pronged attack: “the bombings, and troops on the ground, which could include Free Syrian army forces, Sunni Arab forces and — why not? — regime forces.”
Although Mr Fabius later insisted that such cooperation could only take place after the departure of Assad, his comments were welcomed in Damascus.
"If Fabius is serious about working with the Syrian army, and with forces on the ground fighting Daesh, we welcome that,” said Walid al-Moualem, the foreign minister, using an Arabic acronym for Isil. The diplomat added that cooperation would require a “fundamental change” in France’s policy towards Syria.
France has pursued a strident approach to the conflict to date, something which left it isolated in the autumn of 2013, after Britain and the United States backed out of military action against the regime.
France has also pushed for stronger diplomatic measures against Assad's government, launching a criminal investigation into its alleged war crimes and proposing a UN resolution to protect civilians from its deadly barrel bombs.
But Isil's attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead earlier this month, appear to have changed the French calculation, drawing its focus away from Assad and onto the war against Isil in Syria, where western officials say the coordinated killings were planned.
This is the first indication that western militaries might be willing to work with the remnants of an army that has been responsible for more civilian deaths than any other group in the conflict.
Mr Fabius revealed on Friday that Russian president Vladimir Putin had also asked France to provide Russia with maps detailing the locations where forces fighting Isil militants operate in Syria in order not to bomb them.
“He asked us to draw up a map of forces that are not terrorists and are fighting Daesh. He committed to not bombing them once we’ve provided that."
Russia has described its air campaign in Syria as a fight against terrorism, but most of its bombs have targeted opposition groups fighting Assad loyalists.
Nine weeks into Moscow's military intervention, the air strikes have bolstered the regime in its north-west heartland of Latakia and pushed back western-backed rebel groups in south Aleppo.