France convinced Trump to stay in Syria ‘for the long term,’ says Macron

PARIS (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron asserted Sunday that Paris had convinced Donald Trump to stay engaged in Syria “for the long-term”, adding that French air strikes did not amount to a declaration of war against the regime of Bashar Assad.

A day after France joined the United States and Britain in launching unprecedented strikes against regime targets, Macron insisted the intervention was legitimate and urged international powers to now push for a diplomatic solution to the brutal seven-year war.

“We have not declared war on the regime of Bashar al-Assad,” the 40-year-old centrist said at the start of a combative TV interview, stretching nearly three hours, to mark almost a year in office.

But Macron again argued his first major military intervention as president was necessary to send a signal that the use of chemical weapons against civilians would not go unpunished.

Saturday’s strikes targeted three alleged chemical weapons facilities in response to what the West says was a gas attack on the town of Douma that killed dozens of people.

The Damascus sky lights up missile fire, as the US launches an attack on Syria targeting different parts of the capital, early Saturday, April 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

“We have full international legitimacy in intervening in this case,” Macron said.

He said the US, France and Britain targeted “extremely precise sites of chemical weapons use” in an operation that went off “perfectly.”

(COMBO) This combination of file pictures created on April 14, 2018 in Paris shows (LtoR) France’s President Emmanuel Macron giving a press conference in Paris on March 5, 2018, Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaving 10 Downing Street in central London on November 1, 2017, and US President Donald Trump attending a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 12, 2018.(AFP PHOTO)

And he further argued the operation was legitimate despite not being sanctioned by the UN, retorting that under a 2013 UN resolution Syria was supposed to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal.

As for his allies, Macron suggested France played a pivotal role in changing Trump’s mind on the need to stay involved in the conflict.

“Ten days ago, President Trump was saying the United States of America had a duty to disengage from Syria,” Macron said.

“I assure you, we have convinced him that it is necessary to stay for the long-term,” he told veteran journalists Jean-Jacques Bourdin and Edwy Plenel, charged with the two-hour grilling on BFMTV.

In this March 29, 2018 file photo, a fighter, second from right, of the US-backed Syrian Manbij Military Council is parked next to US humvee at a US troop outpost on a road leading to the tense front line between Syrian Manbij Military Council fighters and Turkish-backed fighters, at Halawanji village, north of Manbij town, Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

And in a reference to Trump’s raging on Twitter at Russia over the possibility of strikes, Macron added: “The second thing is that we have also convinced him that he must limit his strikes to chemical weapons, at a time when there was a media furore via tweet, as I’m sure you noticed.”

Despite soaring tensions with Russia, Macron stressed the need to “talk to everyone” in pursuing a Syrian settlement, saying his plans to visit Moscow in May remain unchanged.

Like Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May he has faced a domestic backlash for striking Syria without consulting parliament, but he defended the move as well within his constitutional powers.

“This mandate is given democratically to the president by the people in the presidential election,” he said.