France: Lack of UN resolution on Syria a 'scandal'

French FM says "We think Assad regime has lost legitimacy"; at 9/11 ceremony in Australia warns that fight against extremism is not over.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)
France has described as a "scandal" the failure of the United Nations so far to agree a resolution against the violent crackdowns on dissidents in Syria.
"I think it's a scandal not to have a clear position of the UN in such a terrible crisis," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporter on Sunday on a visit to Australia. He made the comment when asked about Russian resistance to a draft resolution late last month that called for sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
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"We think that the regime has lost its legitimacy. We think that it's too late to implement a level of reform. We should adopt in New York a very clear resolution condemning the violence," Juppe added.
Syrian demonstrators have demanded international protection to stop civilian killings in what has become one of the most violent responses to protest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.
At an Australian commemoration ceremony of the September 11 attacks, Juppe said the fight against extremism has not ended, condemning it as a "barbarian form of violence," according to AFP.
Juppe and Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in Canberra in commemoration of the thousands of victims of the attack on the World Trade Center that took place a decade ago in the US.