Paris - The French government has banned a demonstration by
French veterans meant in part to protest against the presence of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as an honoured guest at the July 14
Bastille Day military parade, French media reported on Friday.
'The police has banned our demonstration under pressure of the
Elysee Palace,' said Laurent Attar-Bayrou, the head of the veterans'
association FNAME, one of the organizers of the protest. 'We've
returned to the level of democracy of some of the countries who will
be present during the July 14 ceremony.'
The demonstration was to have taken place Thursday evening on the
Champs Elysees, to protest the 'lack of moral support' for the French
Army by the government and also to voice objection to Assad's
participation in the July 14 ceremony.
French veterans blame Syria for the deaths of 93 French members of
a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon in 1983.
FNAME has called on soldiers marching in Monday's parade to wear
black armbands to protest Assad's presence. In addition, France Info
radio reported Friday that some soldiers may turn their heads away as
they pass the Syrian president.
Former French President Jacques Chirac has previously said he
would not be at the July 14 ceremonies because of Assad's
participation. Chirac blames Assad for the murder of former Lebanese
prime minister Rafik Hariri, for which Syrian intelligence services
have been implicated.
Assad will be present on July 14 because President Nicolas Sarkozy
invited all participants at Sunday's summit meeting of the Union for
the Mediterranean to take part in the Bastille Day festivities.
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