French FM: World leaders to decide in coming days on response to Syrian atrocities

In meeting with President Peres, Fabius says decision will be made when culprit of chemical weapons use is determined.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Peres with French FM Laurent Fabius (photo credit: Mark Neiman/GPO)
Peres with French FM Laurent Fabius
(photo credit: Mark Neiman/GPO)
Leaders of the international community must decide in coming days what their response will be to Syrian atrocities, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius told President Shimon Peres on Sunday at a meeting at the president's official residence.
The decisions will be made as soon as it can be established who was responsible for the massacre of so many thousands of people including women and children, Fabius clarified.
World leaders must respond if they want to retain public confidence, he added. If they don't, the public will lose all trust in them.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called the massacres in Syria a "crime against humanity," said Fabius.
Fabius said that he was visiting Israel and the Palestinian Authority, where he met on Saturday with President Mahmoud Abbas, "as a friend of Israel, as a friend of the Palestinians and as a friend of peace."
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Peres commended Fabius for the stance that France has taken on Syria, and said Fabius's clarity and courage with regard to recent developments in Syria were greatly appreciated.
Still shocked by photographs he had seen of dead Syrian children, Peres said that he could not recall any ruler who had carried out such merciless massacres against his own people - "against innocent women and children."
By employing the use of chemical weapons, Syria's President Assad has turned this into the most immoral period in modern history, Peres said.
The time has come for the world to make a joint effort to take all chemical weapons out of Syria, he said, emphasizing that the Russians must play a part in this effort.
Assad says that he does not use chemical weapons, Peres noted. "If that's true, why does he need them?"
Fabius reminded Peres that Russia is a signatory to international agreements against the use of chemical weapons, and having signed such documents, must abide by their conditions.