SYRIA: Residents interviewed on the streets of Damascus welcome news of outgoing French President Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat

Record ID: 280783

  • Title: SYRIA: Residents interviewed on the streets of Damascus welcome news of outgoing French President Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat
  • Date: 7th May 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (MAY 6, 2012) (REUTERS): ( NIGHT SCENES) VARIOUS OF BAB TOUMA SQUARE IN DAMASCUS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BASSAM SAADEH, ENGINEER, SAYING: "I was so happy about Sarkozy's failure in the elections because he is against Syria and the Arab Nation's causes." A STREET A MOSQUE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMAD YASSIN, SYRIAN CITIZEN, SAYING:
  • Embargoed: 22nd May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3KJ2LI8MX8UN7OHFIS3MDR9HT
  • Story Text: Syrians on the street of Damascus on Sunday (May 6) welcomed the ousting of outgoing French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a presidential election run-off won by his Socialist rival, Francois Hollande.
    Bassam Saadeh, an engineer, told Reuters: "I was so happy about Sarkozy's failure in the elections because he is against Syria and Arab Nation's causes."
    Mohamad Yassin, another man interviewed on a Damascus street, predicted that the leaders of the United States, Qatar and Saudi Arabia would also be ousted from office.
    "May God not bring him back. It is normal. He interfered in things that are not his business. Hope that everyone like him follows him. Obama, the Qatari (Qatar's prince) and the Saudi (Saudi King). And they will follow him. And I hope that this crisis (Syria's crisis) ends," Yassin said.
    Hollande beat conservative incumbent Sarkozy by a decisive 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent, based on partial results, bringing the centre-left back to government after a decade in opposition.
    In Sarkozy's presidential period, France was one of the first states that recognised Istanbul Council as a legitimate representative of Syrian people.
    This caused supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad supporters and opposition within Syria to take a negative position of him, saying he is interfering in Syria's internal affairs
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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