Finding a solution to the conflict in Syria will require talking to President Bashar al-Assad, a French opposition lawmaker visiting the war-torn country said on Tuesday, according to AFP.
"The settlement of the Syrian political situation necessarily requires a dialogue with the Syrian president who is in place and is elected by the Syrian people," said Jean-Frederic Poisson, of France's right-wing Christian Democratic Party.
"It is not for foreign countries to decide who must lead Syria, it is for the Syrians to decide," he said after meeting with Syria's parliament chief Jihad al-Lahham.