French lawmaker faces party sanctions for Syria trip
A French lawmaker who went to Damascus for the first talks with Syrian officials since the 2012 closure of France's embassy there faces possible ejection from the ruling Socialist Party, its chairman said on Thursday.
The possible sanction for Gerard Bapt, part of a four-man cross-party delegation of parliamentarians who travelled to Syria this week, underlines sensitivities surrounding France's policy of shunning President Bashar al-Assad. "I fully condemn (this visit). Assad is not an authoritarian dictator, he is a butcher," Socialist Party Chairman Jean-Christophe Cambadelis said, reflecting French accusations his forces have committed atrocities during a four-year conflict.
