French Arrested in Assad Assassination Attempt

Posted by Gordon Duff, Senior Editor on May 16, 2015

French ask for return of accused conspirators

By Nahed al Husaini and Gordon Duff

Two French nationals along with Syrian Kurds were arrested in a bizarre attempt on the life if Bashar al Assad, President of Syria.  The French government has already contacted Damascus through direct channels asking for the return of those arrested.  The French indicate they are willing to enter into negotiations for the return of the captive accused assassins.

The alleged conspirators are said to have been working with a Kurdish terror cell that had penetrated the household staff of Assad.  The Kurds had planted explosives inside detergent containers at the presidential palace south of Damascus.  The attack was not successful.

The French security officers arrested had been in Syria earlier as part of a secret combined French/Syrian task force on terrorism. Two French intelligence officers who were smuggled across the border into Syria by Al Nusra militants south of Qalamoun, scene of an intense battle that has raged for weeks.

Their previous visit to Damascus earlier this year was a secret mission that accompanied the French delegation during their Febrary 27, 2015 visit.  The official reason for the visit was to arrange for the reopening of the French embassy which had been closed since 2012.

Syrian officials speaking anonymously say that the Damascus government believes the would be assassins are part of a Kurdish faction trained inside Jordan.  The explosives used were from the Royal Jordanian Army