France divided over cooperation with Assad

Four days after French MPs went on an unofficial trip to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, much to the chagrin of President François Hollande, a bitter rift is growing among French politicians on how to deal with the Syrian leader.

Despite the vast gains made by the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria, the French government’s line has been and remains that under no circumstances will it cooperate with Assad in the battle against the Islamic militants.

But it is a policy that is being increasingly questioned by French MPs, even those within the ruling Socialists’ own party.

On Wednesday, the dissent turned into outright defiance as lawmakers Jacques Myard and Jean-Pierre Vial of the centre-right UMP, François Zocchetto of the centrist UDI and Socialist Gérard Bapt headed to Damascus where three of them held direct talks with Assad. Bapt says he was not part of the meeting.

The trip sparked an immediate rebuke from Hollande.

“I condemn this initiative,” he said. “I condemn it because French lawmakers have taken it upon themselves to meet with a dictator who is the cause of one of the worst civil wars of recent years.”

Prime Minister Manuel Valls, meanwhile, said that “for parliamentarians to go without warning to meet a butcher…. I think it was a moral failing”.

Bruno Le Roux, head of the Socialists in the National Assembly, even went as far as to demand Bapt’s resignation.