French MPs meet Syrian President Assad

The meeting, which took place on Wednesday, was the first such meeting since France closed its embassy in Syria in 2012, and denounced al-Assad's leadership.

The French government has been quick to distance itself from the visit. Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll described it as "in no way a French initiative".

Another source said that "France's position is clear. We do not talk to Assad or his clique."

The four-man delegation was led by Gerard Bapt from the ruling Socialist Party, and included members of the lower and upper houses of parliament.

All belong to France-Syria parliamentary friendship groups.

A source from the Syrian government said the politicans are also scheduled to meet with the country's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem later on Wednesday.

One of the visitors, Jacques Myard from the conservative UMP party, described the trip as "a personal mission to see what is going on, to hear, listen."

But he denied it any way condoned the ongoing violence inflicted by extremist group "Islamic State" (IS).

"Coming here does not mean we back what's happened," he told a French television station. "The objective is to understand Assad's regime better, because we don't believe we can fight Islamic State without Syria."

Although none of the MPs would reveal any details about what was discussed, Syria's state news agency reported that the meeting focused on "challenges facing Arab and European regions, particularly with regard to terrorism."

France, along with Britain, Italy, Germany and Spain, severed ties with Syria in 2012 as its civil war intensified, having begun as a domestic attempt at ousting al-Assad in March of 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group says the subsequent conflict has seen more than 200,000 people lose their lives.

While Britain, France and the United States have remained unwilling to restore relations with the Arab nation, Syria's government has repeatedly called for international help to fight IS, even allowing the US to conduct air raids against the group in northern Syria and Iraq.

Some French politicians have criticized Paris' refusal to budge on Syria, and say now is the time to reopen the lines of communication.

France supports Syria's moderate opposition, and maintains it would like to see negotiations take place between it and members of the Syrian government to end the conflict. They do not support Bashar al-Assad however, and would like to see him leave power as soon as possible.

an/msh (AFP, Reuters)