French FM blames Assad side for sabotaging Geneva II

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday squarely laid the blame for the failure of the Geneva II peace talks on President Bashar Al-Assad and his "envoys" to the negotiations and he urged a UN resolution forcing Damascus to accept humanitarian intervention in Syria. "The aim of the Geneva talks was to prepare a transition government, with people from the regime, without Bashar (Al-Assad), and with the opposition," Fabius said in an interview with "Radio Classique." "What happened was the people from the opposition came and made proposals that were very reasonable. But on the other hand the envoys from Bashar's regime sabotaged the affair," the Minister added. The Geneva II talks broke up after two rounds of talks over several weeks but no agreement was reached and no date was agreed for a subsequent round of talks because of a difference over the agenda. Fabius criticized Russia for failing to keep to the broad agreement on the need for a government of transition. "Russia has accepted the idea that the aim of Geneva was a transition government. But nothing was done, in fact," Fabius pointed out. He warned also that other elements have now emerged which are "extremely serious," notably the failure of Syria to respect the timetable on the destruction of its chemical weapons supplies. "The destruction of the chemical weapons has been delayed," despite agreements, he said. Thirdly, Fabius spoke out against the arrests of civilians leaving the embattled city of Homs, which was being evacuated after a humanitarian agreement in Geneva II. He accused Al-Assad and his "abominable regime" of detaining the men and boys from among the evacuees from Homs. "Barely out of Homs (Bashar) had the men, who had just been liberated, arrested and tortured," the Foreign Minister protested. He said France would continue to support the "moderate opposition" in Syria and would work hard in the United Nations to get a humanitarian resolution to ease the suffering of the Syrian people. "We are telling those who have influence (on Syria) - we are thinking about the Russians and the Iranians - to do what they must do and we are tabling a discussion of a resolution in the United Nations today to make it obligatory to find a humanitarian solution," Fabius indicated. The resolution will contain a sanctions mechanism for those who do not comply - mostly meaning the Syrian regime - but Russia and China are likely to veto such a provision. In any event, Fabius ruled out any use of force in Syria, condemning any idea of the installation of humanitarian corridors at this point. "Bashar Al-Assad could not do what he is doing if he did not have the support of the Iranians and the Russians," he stated. "We are not going to fight a World War in Syria. On the other hand, we must support the responsible, moderate opposition," Fabius vowed.