“Assad will have to respond to his crimes before his people, before the international courts”

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France’s President Emmanuel Macron has labelled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad an “enemy of the Syrian people” while explaining, “We have to speak to Assad and his representatives.”

France has taken an increasingly prominent role in Middle Eastern affairs since Macron’s election in May, with the new President travelling to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Israel for discussions.

Macron called on Sunday for direct negotiations between the Assad regime and the opposition, three days after the regime delegation walked out of the UN-supported Geneva talks.

The delegation, headed by UN Ambassador Bashar al-Ja’afari, refused any direct discussions with the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee and criticized UN envoy Staffan de Mistura for his handling of the process.

See Syria Daily, Dec 15: Geneva Talks Collapse Amid Regime Refusal of Direct Negotiations

Macron said the opportunity for genuine talks would be provided with the final defeat of the Islamic State: “We have just won the war in Iraq with the coalition. And I think that by the middle to the end of February, we will have won the war in Syria.”

He acknowledged, “Bashar al-Assad will be there. He will be there because he is protected by those who have won the war on the ground, whether it’s Iran or Russia.”

However, Macron continued, “[He] will have to respond to his crimes before his people, before the international courts”.

Assad Attacks France, UN Envoy De Mistura, Kurdish “Traitors”

Speaking after a meeting with a Russian delegation, Bashar al-Assad has attacked a series of targets including French leaders, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, and Syrian Kurds who cooperate with US forces.

Assad lambasted France and De Mistura after the regime’s walkout from the Geneva talks last week, claiming that they are “protecting groups that work for them”. He attempted a convoluted explanation:

Of course for us we can’t even hold these groups responsible for the failure of Geneva for a very simple reason: they are vocal groups that work for dollars, meaning that if you give them a dollar, they will make a sound, and if you give them ten dollars, they will make various tunes of sounds according to how much dollars you give them.

Assad was clearer in accusing France of being “the spearhead of supporting terrorism in Syria”.

Commenting on the cooperation of Kurds with the US, notably through the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northern and eastern Syria, Assad remarked, “All those who work under the command of any foreign country in their own country and against their army and people are traitors, quite simply, regardless of their names, and that is our evaluation of the groups that work for the Americans in Syria.”

Assad’s senior advisor Bouthaina Shaaban has promised that regime forces will soon defeat the SDF in battle.

Rebels Hit Back in Northern Hama Province

After weeks of pro-Assad assaults in northern Hama Province, defying a supposed “de-escalation zone”, rebels counter-attacked on Sunday.

Rebels hit the positions of the Assad regime’s military and its foreign allies between the towns of Kafrzita and Lataminah, claiming capture of village and casualties among pro-Assad forces.

Russian warplanes intervened to try and check any rebel advance. The Syrian Network for Human Rights claims incendiary munitions were used.

The Syrian opposition has continued to hold part of northern Hama despite months of sustained assaults, including the use of chemical weapons, by the pro-Assad forces. Trying to break through, the regime reportedly has moved some of its best paramilitary units, including the “Tiger Forces”, to the area.