Kerry to discuss Syria with French leaders amid allies' divisions

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is scheduled to hold talks with his US counterpart John Kerry here later on Saturday to address the Syrian issue amid American diplomatic efforts aimed at drumming up global support for the planned military strike against targets of the Syrian regime in retaliation for its recent employment of chemical arms. The planned US-French talks will be held against background of serious divisions that emerged among leaders of the G20 states at conclusion of their latest summit in Saint Petersburg on Friday over wisdom of launching a major international military attack against sites and facilities of the Damascus regime. The US, France and some other powers affirmed that Bashar Al-Assad's troops used chemical arms in attacks on civilians in the Damascus suburb of East Al-Ghouta on August 21 leaving scores of deaths, and vowed to attack the regime targets as a punishment for usage of the internationally banned arms, but other powers, namely Russia, have called for a wait-and-see attitude, pending revelation of results of tests being conducted on evidences collected by international experts at the scene of the lethal attack. Washington and Paris have so far appeared bent on establishing an international alliance for carrying out the strike outside frameworks of the UN Security Council, where the Russians, and probably the Chinese, would veto a resolution in this respect. The French, who have affirmed that they will not act alone, are apparently waiting a decision by the US Congress, expected next week, as to giving a "green light" for President Barack Obama to carry on with his plan of resorting to the military option against Al-Assad's regime. French President Francois Hollande has indicated that in the event the efforts for building a solid international alliance faltered, it will focus on increasing support for the Syrian opposition, namely the Syrian National Coalition. While Hollande attempted to assuage concerns of his European partners at the G20 Summit by stressing that Paris would await results of the tests, his foreign minister stated that the international experts were not tasked to identify the perpetrators and that Paris possessed sufficient proofs to condemn the regime of Al-Assad. The French and Americans have been speaking a single language regarding this file so far, stressing that the international community should not be complacent and idle, and that relieving the regime of punitive action would encourage it to repeat such an attack in the future. At the local level, a recent poll showed that up to 64 of the French are against the military option and that 58 percent "do not trust" the president for carrying out such a mission. At a recent parliamentary session, the Premier affirmed that Paris planned no ground engagement on the Syrian territories. Kerry is coming to France as part of a European whirlwind tour seeking to secure substantial support for the military action against the Russian-backed regime in Damascus. He is due to hold talks with British leaders in London, and on Sunday he will hold discussions in Paris with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby and officials of eight Arab and Gulf states to discuss the Middle East in general and Syria in particular.