The Washington Times

Secretary of State John Kerry wraps France stop — flub free

Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped his meeting in France with President Francois Hollande just as U.S. officials announced they were nearing a decision about arming rebels in Syria, the nation once controlled by French rulers.

Tuesday, White House officials said the administration would soon announce whether the United States would give assistance to rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, The Associated Press reports. The officials made clear any assistance would be of the non-lethal type and would only go toward those opposition groups that had been fully vetted, AP said.


SEE RELATED: Administration close to Syria decision as John Kerry meets with Russian counterpart


France — which once ruled Syria as a colonial nation — is similarly mulling how best to give support to opposition fighters without wading too deep into military territory, AP reported.

Against this backdrop, Mr. Kerry met with French rulers, as part of his first overseas diplomatic mission since taking the cabinet office. According to AP, one of Mr. Kerry’s main speaking topics on this tour is Syria. But he’s also focusing on the fate of Iran’s nuclear program.

Photographers captured Mr. Kerry speaking with Mr. Hollande on the steps of the Elysee Palace, chatting in French, AP reported.

Mr. Kerry seems to have wrapped his trip to France without making any diplomatic flubs. He’s made a couple high-profile ones so far, telling a German student body that Americans “have the right to be stupid” and mixing up the names of two countries to invent a new one, Kyrzakhstan.

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

About the Author
Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
You Might Also Like
  • White House Press Secretary Jay Carney smiles after being wished a happy birthday by a reporter during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013. At the briefing Carney announced that President Obama will travel to Oklahoma to visit tornado affected communities. (Associated Press)

    Carney tries on new charm offensive

  • A man stands in a London street after allegedly screaming 'Allahu Akbar' and killing a man in broad daylight. (Image: ITV news screenshot)

    London attackers shout ‘Allahu Akbar,’ machete man to death

  • Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., right, confers with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, left, the ranking member, as the Senate Judiciary Committee assembles to work on a landmark immigration bill to secure the border and offer citizenship to millions, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, May 20, 2013. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., stands at center. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    House Republicans find holes in immigration bill

      • Independent voices from the TWT Communities

        World View

        Columns from Voices around the World talking about the events, people, politics and social issues that concern us wherever, and whoever, we are.

        Video Gaming with MCairsoft14

        Video reviews of today's hottest trends in Minecraft (servers and mods) along with a look at the latest video games with your host MCairsoft14 (alias Jerad Zad).

        Haydon's Soccer and Sports Pitch

        Covering the world of soccer, including the World Cup, Major League Soccer, D.C. United and the English Premier League and other interesting sporting events.