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Conflict in Syria

French FM: Palmyra liberation does not rid Damascus of responsibility for Syrian conflict

According to French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Syyrian authorities took no strong defensive actions when terrorists were seizing Palmyra

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

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PARIS, March 29 /TASS/. Palmyra’s liberation by the government troops does not rid the Syrian government of responsibility for the armed conflict in Syria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said during a visit to Algeria on Tuesday.

"Naturally, we are not going to regret that Palmyra is no longer in the hands of the Islamic State group. At the same time, when the IS was seizing the town, one can hardly say that the Syrian authorities took any strong defensive actions. We can only regret that. The situation could have been different had we organized such a strong rebuff to the ISIS actions at that time," the French foreign minister said.

"The liberation of Palmyra does not relieve the Syrian leadership of responsibility for the conflict in the country," he added.

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Ancient Palmyra after liberation from terrorists

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Syrian conflict

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