Syria's Bashar al-Assad: Paris Attacks Result of French Policy

Damascus: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said today that French policy had contributed to the "spread of terrorism" that culminated in gun and bomb attacks which killed 128 people in Paris.

In a meeting with a delegation of French lawmakers in Damascus, Assad said France's "mistaken policies... had contributed to the spread of terrorism."

"The terrorist attacks that targeted the French capital Paris cannot be separated from what happened in the Lebanese capital Beirut lately and from what has been happening in Syria for the past five years and in other areas," he said.