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| French foreign minister questions commitment of US to resolving Syria crisis | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The French foreign minister has questioned the US’s commitment to resolving the crisis in Syria, saying its “ambiguous” policy was contributing to the problem. | |
| “There are the ambiguities including among the actors of the coalition … I’m not going to repeat what I’ve said before about the main pilot of the coalition,” Laurent Fabius told reporters. “But we don’t have the feeling that there is a very strong commitment that is there.” | |
| Fabius separately announced on Wednesday that he was, as expected, leaving the French government, and said he did not expect US president Barack Obama to change his stance in the coming months. | |
| “I don’t think that the end of Mr Obama’s mandate will push him to act as much as his minister declares [publicly],” he added, referring to the secretary of state, John Kerry. | |
| Fabius, whose departure had long been rumoured, said “yes” when journalists asked if he was taking part in his final cabinet meeting on Wednesday. | |
| Fabius, 69, was France’s youngest ever prime minister when he was appointed, aged 37, in 1984. He is expected to take up a position as head of France’s constitutional court. | |
| He was widely praised for his role overseeing the successful UN climate negotiations in Paris in December. | He was widely praised for his role overseeing the successful UN climate negotiations in Paris in December. |