France says Assad pretending to accept peace plan

PARIS, (Reuters) – French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said today he was not optimistic that international peace mediator Kofi Annan’s plan for ending fighting in Syria would succeed and accused President Bashar al-Assad of only pretending to be committed to it.

“Can we be optimistic or not? I am not, because I think Bashar al-Assad is tricking us,” Juppe told journalists. “He is pretending to accept Kofi Annan’s 6-point plan while at the same time still using force.”