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Syria's Assad stirs controversy at France's Bastille Day
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's presence at France's Bastille Day celebration on Monday angered politicians and military men who served in Lebanon.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:09 July 14, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- World leaders attend France's national festival, Bastille Day, on Monday.
Paris: Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's presence at France's Bastille Day celebration on Monday angered politicians and military men who served in Lebanon.
Assad's presence angered a group of French veterans who accuse Syria of having been behind a 1983 bomb attack in Beirut that killed 58 French soldiers.
Veterans said Al Assad, who is in France to attend the Mediterranean Union summit, did not deserve an invitation to France's national festival.
Political figure Segolene Royal said it was "an intolerable trial" for veterans to march in front of Assad, whose regime is seen by rights groups as repressive.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner last month commented that he was "not particularly pleased" by Assad's presence at the fete.
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