French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius admitted Tuesday that France had helped “a certain number” of defections by Syrian regime members. “We favoured a certain number of defection operations. Our (secret) services are active,” Fabius told parliament’s foreign affairs commission. His remarks come a day after Syrian general Manaf Tlass told the BBC that French agents had helped smuggle him out of Syria. Tlass, a Republican Guard commander and son of a former defence minister, was the highest-ranking defector since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime 18 months ago.