France rules out Al Assad as solution to Syrian conflict

 France on Monday again ruled out a role for President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria in finding a solution to the four-year conflict in that country and pointed to his responsibility for 220,000 dead in his country and the sharp growth in terrorism.
The French comments from Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal echoe an earlier statement from the British government which said it saw no role for Al-Assad in a future Syria.
The French and British authorities calibrated a position on Al-Assad on February 27 in a joint statement when the Foreign Ministers of the two European countries said that their objective was “a political settlement negotiated between the different Syrian parties, leading to a unity government.” France and Britain said that a unity government “should bring together certain structures from the existing regime, the National Coalition and other components which have a moderate, inclusive vision of Syria that respects the different communities of the country.” But there was no mention of any inclusion of Al-Assad in this vision of a national unity government.
“It is clear for us that Bashar Al-Assad cannot be part of such a framework,” Nadal recalled, quoting Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.