Tag Archives: France

President Hollande and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates agreed on the need for more international support for the Syrian opposition and maintaining pressure on the Assad regime to ensure that it commits to negotiations on the Syrian crisis and does not again use chemical weapons. The Foreign Ministry […]

A government spokesman said France remains determined to punish the chemical weapons use of the Assad regime in Syria if diplomatic measures fail, and that a military strike is still an option. Authorities are investigating four French men who were arrested last week and accused of robbing a fast food restaurant in Paris to finance […]

President Hollande called yesterday for a “large coalition” including the US, Europe, and Arab states to respond to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime in Syria. Today the head of the French opposition said his party could not support a military intervention in Syria without the backing of a UN resolution. […]

Interior Minister Valls said that France “cannot go it alone” on Syria and would wait for the US Congress’ decision. The government released an intelligence assessment blaming the Assad regime for the Aug. 21 attack in Damascus and describing the regime’s extensive chemical weapons arsenal. The leaked French intelligence report claims that the Assad regime […]

President Hollande said he supports “firm” punitive action against the Assad regime in Syria over the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack, and that France’s position had not changed despite the recent British vote against an intervention. He said the attack could come by Aug. 4, when the French parliament debates the issue. He said he […]

Foreign Minister Fabius said that if allegations are true that regime forces in Syria used chemical weapons in a recent attack in Damascus, the international community would have to react “with force” in Syria, but also said there was “no question of sending troops on the ground.” He added that there were “possibilities for responding.”

Interior Minister Valls played down reports of a recent al Qaeda threat to European railways, saying French intelligence has found no evidence to support the alleged threat, but added that France is vigilant. Even though intelligence indicated no specific threat to France, but perhaps a general threat in northern Europe, France stepped up policing on […]

Authorities arrested a Tunisian Islamist from a suburb of Paris yesterday and deported him for threatening two journalists. He had allegedly shown willingness to join the al Qaeda-linked Al Nusrah Front in Syria. On June 28, authorities arrested four suspected radical Islamists, including one from Benin, during a raid in Paris, and put them under […]

President Holland said France has been “informed directly and indirectly of threats concerning our installations overseas and even our nationals, threats coming from al-Qaida.” The French embassy in Yemen will close for several days. INTERPOL issued a global security alert noting prison escapes last month in nine countries, including Iraq, Libya, and Pakistan, alleging al […]

Foreign Minister Fabius called for the release of Egyptian political prisoners, including former president Morsi. A well-known French-Tunisian jihadist, Boubakeur Hakim, is being sought as the number one suspect in the assassinations two leading Tunisian politicians.

Police and residents in the Parisian suburb of Trappes said recent clashes between youth and police were due to tensions, not the arrest of a man who attacked police for checking the ID of his unlawfully veiled wife. The head of the local police union claimed that although there are a small number of Salafists […]