Former French PM: We Must Support Hizbullah against ’ISIS’
Local Editor
Former French PM Francois Fillon called for a "global coalition" that would support "the only forces fighting "ISIS" actually on the ground," namely the Kurds, Hizbullah and the Iraqi and Syrian armies, not the so-called "Free Syrian Army" supported by the West."
In an interview with "France Inter", Francois Fillon called for "forming a global coalition with all possible fighters, and supporting the only forces fighting "ISIS" actually on the ground." He described such forces as "various", and that "it is difficult to fight them due to their past in fighting." Those forces include the Kurds (who we help insufficiently and they are being bombed by the Turks), Hizbullah (which is fighting "ISIS" with Iranian help...), the Syrian Arab Army, and to a less limit the Iraqi Army," Fillon noted.
Answering whether France would support Hizbullah, noting that its military wing is listed on the terrorist organizations list in the European Union, Fillon said: "I think the global coalition must help all those who are on the ground and can defeat "ISIS", otherwise we will enter a struggle that would last twenty years." He further added: "The alternative would be that we go ourselves to Syria. Everybody knows that the West will not fight in Syria: the Americans will never go, and without them all other countries could never go there as well."
A "Technical Dialogue" between France and Syria
Regarding the reason of not mentioning the "Free Syrian Army", Francois Fillon explained: "I have never seen the Syrian opposition fighting "ISIS". It is basically fighting the Assad regime. With this force, "ISIS" could not be defeated."
"Today, unfortunately, I consider the presence of the Syrian regime is necessary in this period to defeat "ISIS". In case the Syrian army was downed, "ISIS" will control the lands, and we, the West, cannot stop it," he said.
As per "changing the Russian strategy since the attack in Sinai and the Paris incidents," the Parisian minister stressed that "this is nonsense, the Russians have their own strategy since the beginning, which has not changed. We are those who don't have a strategy."
Francois Fillon concluded the interview calling for "technical dialogue" between France and Syria.
Source: al-Ahed news, Translated by website team
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