France to send diplomatic mission to Syria, foreign minister says

By Nur Asena Erturk

France will send a diplomatic mission to Syria on Tuesday, the French foreign minister announced.

"As of next week - Tuesday, more precisely - a French diplomatic mission will go to Syria for the first time in 12 years," Jean-Noel Barrot told broadcaster France Inter on Sunday.

The aim of this mission is to "establish the first contact, and to measure ... the urgent needs of the Syrian population on a humanitarian level, but also to check whether the statements of this new authority … are followed by actions in the field," the minister added.

He explained that four French diplomats would take part in the delegation.

France closed its embassy in Syria in March 2012, over the Bashar al-Assad regime’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests that year.

Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8 after anti-regime groups seized control of Damascus.

The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters captured key cities across the country in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.