Paris Gave 'Message of Reassurance' to Suleiman on Syria Strike

France has reassured President Michel Suleiman that a possible Western attack against the Syrian regime would neither target Lebanon nor Hizbullah, As Safir daily reported on Friday.

The daily's correspondent in Paris said French President Francois Hollande told Suleiman on the sidelines of the Francophone Games in the southern city of Nice that Paris was exerting all efforts to steer Lebanon clear of the developments linked to Syria and its chemical weapons.

Washington alleges that some 1,400 people, including more than 400 children, were killed in an Aug. 21 attack in the Damascus suburbs involving poison gas.

U.S. President Barack Obama is seeking Congressional support to attack the Syrian regime over its alleged use of the chemical weapons.

But As Safir quoted sources as saying that Hollande sent a “message of reassurance” to Suleiman by stressing that the possible strike against the regime of President Bashar Assad “would not reach Lebanon and would not target Hizbullah.”

The French president also stressed to Suleiman that Paris was keen on the stability of Lebanon, and the importance of implementing the Baabda Declaration and the policy of dissociating the country from the region’s crises.

Hollande's message was aimed at extracting reassurances from Hizbullah that it would not act against Israel – the main U.S. ally in the region – in case of a strike against Assad, As Safir said.

On Monday, Assad warned the U.S. will "pay the price" if it attacks Syria. "It's an area where everything is on the brink of explosion. You have to expect everything."

His comments did not rise to the level of a precise threat, but will do nothing to calm fears that Syria and it allies Hizbullah and Iran could act to destabilize its neighbors.