Paris Terror Attack, Bashar Al-Assad Reaction

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Bashar al-Assad Blames Paris Attacks on France’s Foreign Policy

France’s support for opponents of Syrian regime was reason for attack, says Syria’s president

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, pictures in Damascus on Nov. 14, said that France’s foreign policy had contributed to the attacks that killed 127 people in Paris. ENLARGE

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, pictures in Damascus on Nov. 14, said that France’s foreign policy had contributed to the attacks that killed 127 people in Paris. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

By SAM DAGHER in Beirut

Nov. 14, 2015 9:09 a.m. ET

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Saturday that Friday’s terror attacks in Paris were a direct result of French backing for the Syrian opposition in its quest to topple his regime.



Speaking to reporters in the Syrian capital Damascus after meeting a visiting delegation of French lawmakers and journalists, Mr. Assad said he was ready to cooperate with the French government in the battle against Islamic State, should the French abandon their goal of regime change in Syria.



“Act in the interest of your people,“ Mr. Assad said, referring to the foreign policy of French President François Hollande. ”The first question asked by every French citizen today is, ‘Have the French policies over the past five years brought any good to the French people?’ The answer is no, so what I ask him to do is to act in the interest of the French people—which means changing his policies.”



Mr. Assad said he was ready to share intelligence with French authorities if they altered their course in Syria.



“We can’t speak about intelligence sharing to fight terrorism when French government policies all feed into supporting terrorism,” he said.



Mr. Assad regards all those fighting his regime “terrorists” whether they are Islamic State militants or secular and relatively moderate rebels.



France has been in the forefront of Western countries in backing the Syrian opposition politically, financially and logistically since the conflict began in 2011.



Along with other countries in the West, it has provided military and financial support to the so-called Free Syrian Army, an umbrella rebel group made up mostly of defected Syrian army officers and soldiers.