France reserves judgement on Syrian acceptance of Annan plan

The French government said on Wednesday that it was reserving judgement on the reported acceptance by Syria of the six-point peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. "Bashar Al-Assad indicated to the Special Envoy...that he accepted his peace plan. After months of broken promises, France and the international community will judge him on his actions," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We demand the complete implementation of the peace plan proposed by Kofi Annan, starting with the immediate halt to repression," the statement added. Officials here said that in the past days there have been dozens killed in the ongoing violence in Syria and there are tens of thousands of wounded, prisoners, refugees and displaced people. Separately, the Foreign Ministry praised the efforts of Syrian opposition factions that met in Istanbul Tuesday and agreed to form a common front to oppose the regime in Damascus. France said that the statement after the opposition meeting was "a reference document to define the principles of a democratic, pluralist Syria that respects the rights of all Syrians." The largest opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), emerged empowered to represent most of the opposition movements after the Istanbul meeting. The Foreign Ministry also recalled that a second meeting in the Turkish capital on April 1 would bring together members of the "Friends of Syria "group and this meeting will be attended by Foreign Minister Alain Juppe. "We hope that the meeting April 1 in Istanbul...will be an opportunity to bolster international support for the Syrian opposition, united around the SNC, " French Foreign Ministry spokesman said here Wednesday. He added the "Friends of Syria" group has already given "broad international support for the initiatives of the Arab League" concerning Syria. The meeting will also examine "the supposed acceptance by Bashar Al-Assad of Kofi Annan's plan," Valero added, noting there must be a halt to the "massacres" that have been going on for the past year.