Fabius: Syria Strikes must Target All Terrorist Groups
Local Editor
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday that airstrikes in Syria must target "ISIL" militants but also other groups "considered as terrorists."
Fabius said a statement by President Francois Hollande Friday that Russian airstrikes must target "Daesh and only Daesh [the Arabic acronym for ISIL] did not exclude other groups like the al-Nusra Front.
"Of course, it is a concise formulation, it is Daesh and groups considered as terrorists," Fabius told Europe 1 radio in an interview, referring to Hollande's statement.
Moscow, which has launched more than 70 airstrikes in Syria since last Wednesday, has come under fire for targeting Western-backed opposition groups and "ISIL" militants alike in their bid to bolster President Bashar Assad.
Fabius warned of the risk that the Syrian conflict could turn into a wider religious war.
"When you see a conflict which at first was a civil war, becoming a regional war involving international powers, Russia, Iran, the US, the risks are serious," he said.
"The most terrifying risk is that the conflict becomes religious: If you have Shiite [Muslim] populations on one side with their allies, and Sunni populations on the other side with their allies, it is an inferno which can be extremely dangerous."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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