France to wait for UN report before Syria intervention

(France24) France will await the conclusions of UN inspectors investigating an August 21 suspected chemical weapon attack outside Damascus before deciding on launching military action in Syria, President François Hollande said Friday at a G20 summit in Russia.

France will await conclusions by U.N. inspectors investigating last month’s chemical weapon attack in Syria before deciding on any action, President Francois Hollande said on Friday.

That could mean French involvement in any military strikes against Bashar al-Assad not being decided until close to the end of the month at the earliest. U.N. diplomats have said the results of the U.N. analysis may not be ready for weeks.

“We shall await the report of the inspectors just as we will await (U.S.) Congress,” he told a news conference after a summit of G20 nations in Russia’s St. Petersburg, referring to an expected U.S. vote on military strikes.

Domestic critics say Hollande risks diplomatically isolating France by pushing it into a military intervention alongside the United States but without a U.N. mandate. Russia and China are seen vetoing such action in the U.N. Security Council.

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