French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has said the Arab observer mission in Syria needs to be "clarified" and complained that Russia was blocking any UN condemnation of the Damascus leadership.
"The conditions under which this observer mission is operating should be clarified," Juppe told French television I-Tele, adding that he was "sceptical" about its progress.
Juppe questioned whether the observers really had free access to information, but said he would await their report, expected in the coming days, adding: "But I do not consider the battle is already lost."
He also insisted again that the UN Security Council "cannot stay silent" on the situation in Syria, and said he regretted that permanent Council member Russia "continues to block" any condemnation of the regime by the UN.
"It is clear that there is an absolutely savage repression going on, that the regime has no real future and therefore it is for the international community to decide," he said.
"The time is coming when the regime will be totally isolated." [AFP]