Visiting French special envoy for Syria Jean-Francois Guillaume said his country was preparing to stand with Syrians during the transitional period after Bashar al-Assad's ouster by rebels this month.
"France is preparing to be with Syrians" during the transitional period "which we hope will be peaceful", Guillaume told journalists, adding that his delegation had come to "make contact with the de facto authorities in Damascus", while an AFP journalist saw the French flag raised in the embassy's entrance hall for the first time since the mission was shuttered in 2012.
