France says Syria attack shows 'urgent' need for transition

PARIS: France said a suicide bombing Wednesday that killed two top Syrian officials showed the urgent need for a political transition and urged Bashar al-Assad to give up his "futile" struggle to stay in power.

"The French government, without knowing the circumstances of this attack, has always condemned terrorism. That said, given the level of violence, this makes it even more necessary and urgent to find a political transition," Fabius told the French Senate.

"We do not yet know the exact circumstances in which this attack took place," Fabius said. "It is an act of extreme importance, this shows the level of violence that has been reached even in Damascus."

The attack, which for the first time in a 16-month uprising struck at the inner core of Assad's regime, killed defence minister General Daoud Rajha and his deputy Assef Shawkat, Assad's brother-in-law, Syrian state media said.

It came as fighting raged in the capital Damascus between the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) -- comprising defected soldiers and civilians who have taken up arms -- and forces loyal to Assad.

"The situation in Syria is worsening day by day as the violence intensifies. Bashar al-Assad must understand that his struggle to retain power is futile and that nothing will stop the Syrian people's march to a democratic future," French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

"The last supporters of the regime must understand that repression leads nowhere and we urge them to dissociate themselves from the bloody repression carried out for 16 months," he said.

He said France was "more than ever committed to have a resolution adopted" at the UN Security Council in order to "put an end to the repression and implement a political transition in accordance with the aspirations of the Syrian people."

Valero also said that General Manaf Tlass, a key military defector and ex-ally of Assad, had been granted a residency permit in France.

"Mr Tlass has a provisional residency permit in France. As far as we know no demand has been made for political asylum," Valero said.

"No French authority has met with General Tlass and at this time there is no plan to do so," he said.

Tlass, whose defection was announced on July 6, confirmed in a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday that he was in Paris and called for "a phase of constructive transition" in Syria. (AFP)