France to Submit UN Resolution Banning Barrel Bombs

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius

France will submit a new draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling on the Assad regime to stop using barrel bombs as well as condemning other “indiscriminate attacks” against civilians, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday.

“We have to ensure that the regime stops bombing the civilian population,” Fabius told reporters in a joint press conference with the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura in Paris.

Fabius also announced that Paris will host foreign-minister level talks on Syria on Oct. 27. Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will not be part of the talks, Fabius added.

Fabius reiterated that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could not be part of any solution since he is the source of the problem and even if he [Bashar al-Assad] apologize “to everyone in the world” it would not change it.

“We considered that the person who is the principal one responsible for the chaos – 250,000 dead – cannot at the same time be the one (as the solution),” Fabius said.

“We need it to be clear that the political solution will lead to another perspective, another reality than someone who is a criminal against humanity,” said the head of French diplomacy.

The Syrian Coalition renews calls on the UN Security Council to enforce resolution 2139 that prohibits the use of barrel bombs in populated areas, to work urgently and seriously to impose safe areas in northern and southern Syria, to ensure the lifting of siege on all areas, and to ensure the introduction of relief aid to the needy civilians. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)