FRANCE: Syrian ambassador to Paris Lamia Chakkour denies that she has quit her job in protest at unrest in Syria

Record ID: 279319

  • Title: FRANCE: Syrian ambassador to Paris Lamia Chakkour denies that she has quit her job in protest at unrest in Syria
  • Date: 9th June 2011
  • Summary: ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX, FRANCE (MAY 8, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF FRANCE 24 HEADQUARTERS VARIOUS OF RENEE KAPLAN, A FRANCE 24 DEPUTY EDITOR, TALKING TO FRANCE 24 STAFF FRANCE 24 NEWS SCREENS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANCE 24 NEWS CHANNEL DEPUTY EDITOR, RENEE KAPLAN, SAYING: "Right now there's a clear controversy. When we reached out to the ambassador yesterday
  • Embargoed: 24th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVA8RMLOXADSCP8XSCW1D1FSQ4W0
  • Story Text: Syria's ambassador to France strongly denied a report on Tuesday (June 7) that she had resigned in protest at the government's repression of protests, saying it was part of a campaign of disinformation against Damascus.
    In an interview broadcast by the BFM news network early on Wednesday, Ambassador Lamia Chakkour, shown standing in front of a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Paris embassy, said the report by news channel France 24, featuring a telephone interview with a woman claiming to be her, was false.
    "At no point did I consider or think about anything else than to serve my country," she said.
    The television images of her denial ended several hours of confusion following France 24's report, which had been quickly followed by a strong denial in Syrian media.
    Shortly after that, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television aired a telephone interview in Arabic with a woman who identified herself as Chakkour and angrily said she had not quit.
    With the ambassador not immediately available for comment in Paris, it had not been possible to reach her to confirm which of the statements was correct.
    Reuters had checked with the Syrian embassy in Paris before reporting the initial resignation statement aired on France 24.
    An e-mail response from the embassy, sent via its website, confirmed that Ambassador Chakkour had resigned.
    BFM's short video clip of the ambassador offered no explanation for the email sent from an embassy account, but the embassy website itself later was suspended from operation.
    In her interview with BFM, Chakkour said she had not spoken to France 24 and accused the channel of trying to steal her identity as Syrian ambassador, echoing the denial earlier reported on Al-Arabiya.
    "I can't explain this, and there are many things I can't explain in France's foreign policy. I condemn this act of disinformation and this identity theft by France 24. They let themselves go by spreading false information, falsified information. So there's a case of identity theft. So I accuse this channel and I will get it condemned, I will file a complaint with the French courts and the international ones as well", Chakkour added.
    France 24 Deputy Editor Renee Kaplan said on Wednesday that the telephone interview had been booked via the Syrian embassy.
    "When we reached out to the ambassador yesterday to invite her to be on our debate show which was about Syria, we called the Syrian embassy," she told Reuters.
    "We called a number that is indeed confirmed today to be the number of the Syrian embassy. We spoke with a representative of their press office who said the ambassador agreed to come on our network and gave us a cell phone number to call. We reached out to this number, reached to whom we felt sure was the ambassador last night. She testified on air, or rather she -- to our stupefaction -- resigned on air. First on an English channel, then on our French channel. At the time we had absolutely no reason to call into question the authenticity of the resignation."
    Kaplan said France 24 was looking into the affair.
    "Today we have to call into question whether indeed it may not have been the ambassador and we're looking into that. We're looking into any number of scenarios that could have led to indeed it not being the Syrian ambassador. If there is some kind of manipulation, that is one of the scenarios we're anticipating, we will take legal action against any of the people or the authorities who are behind it," she said.
    Chakkour's father was a senior figure in Syria's secret police. Her background as a member of Syria's Christian minority from a family regarded as loyal to Assad helped her secure her ambassadorial post.
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