France says Syrian government principally behind truce violations
By John Irish NEW YORK (Reuters) - France's foreign minister said on Sunday that despite U.S.-led coalition air strikes on the Syrian army, it was Syrian government forces that were principally behind violations of a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia. "We have to hold on to this accord and keep it alive at all costs so we need to get over the events of the last few hours," Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters at a ceremony at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York. "But while there were these incidents ... we shouldn't forget that what has harmed the American-Russian ceasefire is firstly the regime. It is always the regime of Bashar al-Assad." Moscow stepped up its war of words with Washington on Sunday, saying the air strikes on the Syrian army, which killed dozens, threatened the implementation of the ceasefire plan and bordered on connivance with Islamic State. Denouncing "tactics" by some, Ayrault, who has been critical of the United States for not sharing details of the ceasefire deal with its allies, said everything needed to be done during the U.N. General Assembly this week to "recreate the conditions for the ceasefire" and especially ensure aid entered the besieged city of Aleppo. Under the deal, the United States and Russia are aiming for reduced violence over seven consecutive days before they move to the next stage of coordinating military strikes against the former Nusra Front and Islamic State, which are not party to the truce. Moscow has said it wants the deal rubberstamped through a U.N. Security Council resolution. "We can't back a deal if we don't know the main terms," Ayrault said. France has also been pushing for a separate U.N. Security Council resolution after a joint investigation by the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW found that Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks and Islamic State militants used sulfur mustard gas. Paris is worried there could be a weak response to the reported chemical weapons attacks or that the issue could be sidelined because of the fragility of a Syria ceasefire deal agreed by Moscow and Washington. "We aren't forgetting anything and notably the resolution to condemn chemical weapons. It would be tragic that the U.N. closed its eyes on the use of chemical weapons," Ayrault said. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by James Dalgleish)
