June 8, 2004

The devil's advocate

By Olivier Guitta
A few weeks ago, President Bush began enforcing the Syria Accountability Act, signed into law in December, imposing economic sanctions on Syria for its continued support of major terrorist organizations and its occupation of Lebanon. At the same time the European Union is on the verge of signing a major trade agreement with Syria. Who is pushing hard for it?  France. And here's why. France always had strong ties with Syria, deriving in part from the League of Nations mandate. But since Chirac took power in 1995, the relationship has dramatically improved. France and Syria are now tied by an 'indestructible friendship': these are Chirac's exact words. Two facts illustrate this friendship better than anything else: 1— Chirac was the only Western Head of State who attended Hafez El Assad's funeral in Damascus in 2000;2— Bashar Assad's first official European trip was to France, in June 2001 France has been replacing Russia as the main partner for the new...(Read Full Article)