French government said it was "extremely shocked" at the massive death toll among children in Syria
PARIS, Feb 7 (KUNA) -- The French government said on Tuesday it was "extremely shocked" upon learning of the massive death toll among children in the Syrian conflict
UNICEF said in a report earlier in the day that around 400 children had been killed in Syria since the repression began last March and another 400 had been detained by security forces and some were tortured and abused. "We were extremely shocked by the latest figures given by UNICEF concerning the number of children killed ... in Syria," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Spokesman Bernard Valero said that the figure of 400 dead is "terrible news. "We knew that children were victims of the repression but this figure is especially awful," Valero said.
Separately, the French official said Paris was continuing its efforts and contacts with multiple parties on the Syrian crisis and its "objective" is to get a halt to the violence. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has been in contact with Syrian opposition leaders and the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Nabil Al-Araby, as well as with the current head of the Arab League, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar. The two Arab League figures pleaded last week at the UN Security Council for a resolution pressuring Syria, but this was vetoed by Russia and China.
Contacts are also underway with Turkey to determine that country's evaluation of the situation and get precisions on Turkish "intentions", the spokesman indicated. As a result, the regime in Damascus has increased the pressure and violence against opposition forces and killed hundreds of people since the resolution was vetoed last Saturday.
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