The Syria strikes have given Emmanuel Macron, the French president, a chance to promote France as the leading American ally in Europe days before he becomes the first foreign leader to be hosted by Donald Trump on a state visit. Mr Macron’s office released a photograph showing the president in the Jupiter command bunker under the Elysée Palace, his brows furrowed in concentration as he oversaw the strikes, flanked by his defence minister, Florence Parly, and military chiefs. Comparisons were immediately made with a photograph of Barack Obama in the White House Situation Room, as Osama Bin Laden was killed in a US military operation. Mr Macron, who says he speaks “daily” to Mr Trump, discussed Syria with Vladimir Putin just hours before the strikes. Less than a year ago, Mr Macron warned the Russian president as he hosted him in the ornate splendour of the palace of Versailles that the use of chemical weapons would be a red line leading to reprisals. Barack Obama with senior administration officials in the White Situation Room on the night Osama bin Laden was killed in May 2011 Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza “I believe my red line was crossed,” he told Mr Putin in the call on Friday, according to Mr Macron’s advisers. The French president was the first international leader to say he had proof that Syria used chemical weapons against civilians in Douma. On Saturday a French intelligence report giving details of the evidence was made public. Before the strikes, Mr Macron told Mr Trump that France was prepared to act alone if the US and Britain backed down, increasing pressure on him for prompt action. US, UK and French launch Syria airstrikes, in pictures Mr Macron’s decisiveness contrasted with the cancellation of planned strikes against Syria’s chemical weapons by his predecessor, François Hollande, in 2013. Mr Hollande chose not to go it alone following President Obama’s U-turn after the British parliament voted against military action. Mindful that Mr Obama was derided for failing to follow through on his red line, Mr Macron told journalists after his election last year: “When you fix red lines, if you can’t enforce them, you decide to be weak. That’s not my choice.” As head of state and commander-in-chief, Mr Macron enjoys greater freedom to deploy military forces than Theresa May. His high international profile and his success in impressing Mr Trump, who decided to invite him to Washington after attending the Bastille Day military parade in Paris last year, have restored French pride, battered by economic and social problems. A French diplomatic source said: “Macron is positioning France as America’s most effective European ally while Angela Merkel is absorbed by domestic politics and Britain is preoccupied with Brexit. He has turned France back into a global player.” Before Mr Trump telegraphed his intention to strike Syria in a Twitter post, he phoned Mr Macron twice. Mr Trump’s failure to call Mrs May in the early stages was not lost on the French. After the strikes, they also noted that Mr Trump tweeted: “Thank you to France and to the United Kingdom.” Intervention in Syria | Read more Mr Macron’s visit, reportedly organised at the insistence of Melania Trump, who enjoyed visiting Paris with her husband, will include a working meeting at the White House, a joint press conference with Mr Trump and a state dinner. Mr Trump also plans to invite Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte to a private dinner at Mount Vernon, which was George Washington’s plantation home in Virginia. French media described the invitation as a “rare honour”. Mr Trump’s palate is famously limited, but he is said to be planning an elaborate dinner to impress Mr Macron, who invited the Trumps to a private dinner at the famous Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. The Macrons’ state visit is seen as a blow to Mrs May, who was the first world leader to visit Mr Trump in the White House.
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BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the Syria conflict (all times local):
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the Syrian conflict (all times local):
By Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May will face criticism on Monday for bypassing parliament to join weekend air strikes against Syria, with some lawmakers calling for a potentially damaging vote on her future strategy. May, who has regained confidence after winning support for her tough stance on Syria and Russia, will make a statement to parliament on her decision to join the United States and France in Saturday’s strikes in retaliation for a suspected gas attack. Critics said it was a way to try to stop any “meaningful vote”.
The United States, France and Britain launched retaliatory strikes on the Syrian regime early Saturday, a week after an alleged chemical attack on an ex-rebel town, despite warnings from Russia. On April 7 the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) and Syria’s White Helmets rescue force jointly say more than 40 people have died in a “poisonous chlorine gas attack” in Douma, the last opposition-held town in Eastern Ghouta near the capital.
