Paris, April 5, 2012 (AFP) – France is not confident Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad will fully implement a ceasefire deal brokered by un envoy Kofi Annan before an April 12 deadline, foreign minister Alain Juppe said Thursday.
’Can we be optimistic? I’m not, ’ Juppe said, when asked by journalists about hopes that Annan’s plan might bring an end to the Syrian regime’s violent repression of a popular revolt against Assad’s rule.
’I think Bashar al-Assad is cheating us. He is pretending to accept Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan but at the same time he continues to use force, ’ he explained.
Annan said on Monday that Assad had agreed to ’immediately’ start pulling his troops out of protest cities and complete a troop and heavy weapons withdrawal by April 10.
The pro-government daily al-Watan however quoted a government official as saying Damascus is not bound by any deadline to withdraw its troops from strife-torn areas.