MIDEAST-CRISIS/FRANCE-SYRIA French strikes in Syria may have hit French jihadists - prime minister

Record ID: 134632

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/FRANCE-SYRIA French strikes in Syria may have hit French jihadists - prime minister
  • Date: 12th October 2015
  • Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (OCTOBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF A LATIN CHURCH SIGN READING (Arabic): "THE LATIN PATRIARCHAL SCHOOL" CHURCH BELL TOWER CAR CARRYING FRENCH PRIME MINISTER MANUEL VALLS ARRIVING VALLS BEING GREETED BY PRIESTS AND AN IMAM VALLS WALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRIME MINISTER, MANUEL VALLS, SAYING: "There was no blunder. On these topics, I as
  • Embargoed: 27th October 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACHESHE7I7HO8QKTQVO3EM5AX3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday (October 12) that French jihadists may have been killed during an air strike targeting an Islamic State (IS) camp last week and he deflected criticism, saying the primary objective was to hit the militants.
    Rafale fighter jets bombed a training camp for suicide bombers near Islamic State's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa on Friday, according to the French Defence Ministry.
    France announced it was joining what have been U.S.-led air strikes on Islamist insurgents in Syria to prevent Islamic State from carrying out attacks against its interests and to protect Syrian civilians.
    It says the decision is legal and based on a United Nations charter enabling self-defence, something French media and analysts have started to question since reports that French citizens may have been killed.
    "There was no blunder. On these topics, I ask you to be serious and not take information spread here and there as fact. It was the decision of the French President that France would hit targets where attacks were being planned -- terrorist attacks, madame -- against France. Terrorist attacks have already taken place. There have been deaths, compatriots who have been killed, by terrorists," Valls told reporters in Amman, Jordan, using the derogatory Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
    "French citizens have the right to the greatest protection. And it's the government, the French President, that has to ensure it, through the actions of our army, of our planes, which you'll see in a moment, Rafale and Mirage, and this is how we protect France. A debate that was established in I don't know what news outlets, explained there were French (citizens hit), and that's possible, but our responsibility is to hit Daesh, and we will continue to do so regardless of their nationality. Terrorists, in this sense, do not have passports," he added.
    A French government source said Paris could not confirm a Syrian non-governmental organisation's estimate that six French jihadists were killed in the Raqqa-area air strike.
    France was shaken by a series of deadly Islamist attacks earlier this year, including the killing in January of 12 people at the office of the weekly Charlie Hebdo, which in articles and cartoons had satirised militant Islam.
    It has become alarmed by Islamic State gains in northern Syria despite more than a year of U.S.-led air strikes and the possibility of France being sidelined in negotiations to reach a political solution in Syria.
    Valls, along with his defence minister, is on a four-day visit to the Middle East that includes Jordan, from where French planes have been carrying out air strikes in Iraq and Syria.
    He also visited UNHCR headquarters, where he met with refugees displaced by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
    Mariam, a refugee from Iraq, said the uncertainty of her future makes it hard to move on with her life.
    "What does a refugee want? He wants to be settled, we left (our country) after we were threatened as Christians, we left our homes, we sold all our gold. We just want to eat and live, they can keep what they stole, we were threatened and left. What does a refugee want? We just want to be settled and live our lives. How long will this go on? We've been here for a year and two months, and we have no idea what our future will be," Mariam said.
    Fadi Alabrash, a Syrian refugee from Homs, said he hoped Europe would be welcoming, as refugees wait for a resolution to the crisis in Syria.
    "We have a lot of requests for Europe and France specifically. We hope they will help refugees, especially those travelling by sea. They should provide them with safe passages. But before all this, before they help refugees, we hope that they will stop the Syrian regime. They are able with a simple statement to implement a peaceful solution in Syria, and refugees will no longer have to leave," Alabrash said.
    Valls is expected to travel later on Monday to Saudi Arabia to discuss potential business deals, but also the latest developments in Syria since Russia announced its own military intervention in the country with a campaign of air strikes.
    Moscow's move is seen in Paris and Riyadh to be in large part aimed at preventing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from falling to the four-year-old insurgency against him.
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