Special to WorldTribune.com

France’s support for moderate Syrian rebel groups contributed to the “spread of terrorism” that led to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), Syrian President Bashar Assad said.

“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,” Assad said on Nov. 14, in a meeting with a delegation of French lawmakers in Damascus.

The attack in Beirut Assad was referring to was a pair of bombings on Nov. 12 that killed 44 people near a stronghold of Iran terror proxy Hizbullah, an ally of Assad.

Assad, who considers all groups fighting his regime terrorists, said he had “warned against what would happen in Europe for the past three years.”

“We said, don’t take what is happening in Syria lightly. Unfortunately, European officials did not listen.”

Assad went on to say that said French President Francois Hollande “should change his policy.”

“The question that is being asked throughout France today is, was France’s policy over the past five years the right one? The answer is no.”

  Assad: French policies contributed to ‘spread of terrorism’, Beirut attack, Francois Hollande, WorldTribune.com