Behind the Scenes of the French Delegation’s Visit to Damascus

Nidal Hamade - Paris

The same delegation was supposed to go to Syria in May 2014, but the Elysée's last second objection had it canceled, under the pretense that the French position was not to communicate with the Syrian state, be it with Bashar al-Assad or with the heads of the government in Damascus.

Nine months later, the status-quo had not changed in Syria, but the security conditions in France were very different. The return of European [mainly French and Belgian] Takfiri militants to Paris and Brussels ushered in drastic change. This after French and European intelligence helped send them to Syria to overthrow the "regime" there.

According to information, after the Charlie Hebdo incident, some French politicians and security officials called for re-establishing communication with Syria, stating that French intelligence contacted the two main people in the delegation: Socialist MP Gerard Bapt, head of the France-Syria Friendship Group in the French parliament, and the group's vice-president MP Jacques Myard, and asked them to re-communicate with Syria and prepare for a trip to Damascus.

Information also revealed that the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius objected the visit, but the security apparatuses whose stocks had gone up after the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks saw that France's security needs made it necessary to communicate with Syria. Thus, the French foreign ministry stipulated that if this were to happen then the delegation is not to meet with President al-Assad.

But the delegation stated that they were afraid that the Syrians would then call the whole visit off. The Elysée then agreed to the visit, and to please everyone it was agreed that the visit would be said to be of a private nature, and not authorized by the French government. And that's what had happened.

Getting a Feel of Things

The French delegation brought some files along with it to get a feel of the Syrian position towards them, among which, is the matter of the Europeans (particularly the French) fighting with armed groups in Syria, and most importantly those among them planning on going back to France.

French intelligence believes that its Syrian counterpart is in possession of a great deal of information on such armed fighters that the French could no longer keep tabs on after their entry into Syria and Iraq, either because they lost their leads, or because the French had traveled between Syrian and Iraqi regions.

The visit sparked much debate in France, whilst those in the field of security supported it. Right-wing MP Alain Marsaud, a member of the France-Syria Friendship group said: "I am not in Damascus because I knew that al-Assad laid out a trap for us, and was looking for France's official recognition by meeting with us".

Pouria Amirshahi, representing French expatriates said: "I'm in between opinions. On the one side, the Foreign Ministry is disavowing the visit on the basis of power distribution whilst on the other hand, there is a need for the re-establishment of some level of relationship with Syria, namely since Assad is shown as a barrier standing against "ISIL" extremists.

He added that he had no knowledge of the visit, but was certain that the French foreign ministry knew what they were doing.

Syria has stipulated that France must reopen its embassy in Damascus before any talk of coordination between the two countries in security.

There is nothing in the horizon that points to a change in the Syrian position, namely since France was the one who visited Syria, and after several security incidents that struck the French capital Paris, and other French cities. This led France to reconsider its tough stance on Syria in favor one that is more pragmatic, following the Western and Gulf failure of removing al-Assad from power in Syria after 4 years.

Source: al-Ahed news