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France and Russia will convey together Friday evening humanitarian aid to Syria, to a rebel enclave taken over by the regime in April, a first in the conflict that has devastated the country since 2011. [19659003] A large Antonov 124 Russian army carrier landed shortly before 8:00 pm (18:00 GMT) in Châteauroux (central France) to load 50 tons of medical equipment and basic necessities, noted journalists from the AFP on the spot.
Once his loading embarked, he must take off again at the end of the evening towards the Russian base of Hmeinim, in the west of Syria, one indicated to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 19659004] This joint humanitarian operation is a first in Syria between Russia, which changed the situation by flying militarily to the aid of President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, and a Western country.
"In the framework of resolution 2401 of the Security Council s United Nations, this project aims to provide better access to aid to civilians, "said the French presidency in a joint French-Russian communiqué.
The aid must be distributed on Saturday to the Ghouta East, near Damascus, under the supervision of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at the Quai d'Orsay
"Russia won"
France has obtained "guarantees" from Russia that the regime would not obstruct the movement, as it does regularly with UN convoys, and that any "political recovery" and "misappropriation" of the According to Paris, "the Russians intervened in a very decisive manner so that the authorizations are delivered" and that the aid is conveyed "in deadlines decent", it was emphasized to the Quai.
19659004] Paris provided the freight, valued at 400,000 euros, Russia taking care of the transport. For three hours, medical equipment, tents, cooking kits and blankets were loaded into the cargo vessel's belly.
Medical equipment (anti-biotics, resuscitation equipment, infusions, compresses, etc.) is intended for 500 heavy and 15,000 light wounded in Eastern Ghouta, target of a flood of fire of the regime in March-April before capitulating after five years of siege
After Aleppo, Homs and Ghouta, Bashar al-Assad continues its reconquest against rebels and jihadists with the help of Russia, but also of Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah
For François Heisbourg, president of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, France "takes act with this operation of the fact that Bashar and Russia have won militarily. "
" No good and bad Syrians "
" This is somewhere recognition of a state of fact, "says he to AFP. "The Russians wanted to enhance their military victory politically.It is still necessary that interlocutors be ready to play the game," he notes.
France defends itself for its part to validate in any way a " pax russa "in Syria. "It's not a political coup, it's a humanitarian operation", insists one in Paris.
"Our demands on Russia and our vision of the political solution do not change" but "if we want a political solution, we need confidence-building measures."
President Emmanuel Macron has been trying for months to involve Westerners in the search for a political solution, under the aegis of the UN. But the process falters, Bashar al-Assad being all the less inclined to negotiate that he advances militarily.
The granting of French aid in areas under the control of the regime could also raise questions. "It must be dispensed (…) everywhere in Syrian territory without exception, where international humanitarian law must be fully respected," replies the communique.
"In humanitarian matters, we have never decided who the good Syrians, who were the bad Syrians ", added the Quai, recalling that the emergency program of 50 million euros announced by Emmanuel Macron in April is addressed to all Syria.
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