Two-thirds of French people against involvement in US war on Syria: Survey

Iran Press TV

Sun Sep 8, 2013 2:30PM GMT

A new poll shows over two-thirds of French people are opposed to their country's involvement in a potential military intervention in Syria.

According to the poll conducted by the French daily Le Figaro, 68 percent of the respondents were against France's involvement in a potential military action planned by US President Barack Obama against Syria.

Compared with a similar survey published on August 29, the new figures show a nine percentage increase in the number of those who oppose war.

The recent poll also revealed that 64 percent of the respondents are against any international military intervention in Syria, irrespective of the involvement of the government of French President Francois Hollande who is in favor of a military action in the Arab country.

France and the United States have called for military action against Syria over accusations that the Syrian government was behind the recent chemical attack near the capital, Damascus.

In a recent interview with the daily Le Monde, French president said that he stands firm behind a "punitive" strike on Syria.

On August 21, the militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that 1,300 people have been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka, and Jobar.

A number of Western countries, including the US, France, and the UK, were quick to adopt the rhetoric of war against Syria despite the fact that Damascus categorically rejected having had any role in the chemical attack.

The Syrian government announced later that the chemical attack had actually been carried out by the militants themselves as a false flag operation.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. The United Nations has reported that more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the violence

MAM/PR