Frankrijk: luchtaanval op Syrië behoort tot de mogelijkheden (en)

BRUSSELS - French leader Francois Hollande i has said military action in Syria is possible if the UN agrees, as eight EU countries expel ambassadors.

He spoke on national TV on Tuesday (29 May) following UN confirmation that Syrian artillery and militia killed 108 people, including 49 children, in the village of Houla, in western Syria, on Friday.

"I heard Bernard Henry-Levy talk about a military intervention, which is not excluded provided it is carried out under the auspices of international law, namely via a [UN] Security Council resolution," Hollande told the France 2 broadcaster, referring to a French intellectual who advised his predecessor, former president Nicolas Sarkozy i, to launch air strikes in Libya last year.

Hollande's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, in an interview with the Le Monde newspaper the same day ruled out a ground invasion, indicating that air strikes would be the only option.

"No country is ready to envisage a ground operation. The risks of regional contagion are formidable, in particular in Lebanon," he said.

He noted that Syria has a "strong" army. But behind the scenes, French military thinkers do not see any technical problems.

Former French air force chief Jean Rannou told EUobserver in an interview last year: "I don't see any purely military problems. Syria has no defence against Western systems ... [But] it would be more risky than Libya."

Military analysts say Western jets would use a British base in Cyprus to launch sorties against Syrian air-defences in a first stage lasting 48 hours, followed by open-ended bombardment.

Syria has around 430 jets, but out of these just 60-or-so Russian-made MiG-29s are up to date. It also has Russian-made surface-to-air missiles - SA-17s - which might claim casualties.

Hollande's statement is more hawkish than previous ones by EU countries, which went no further than saying international troops might guard humanitarian safe zones. But with China and Russia continuing to block UN-level sanctions against Syria, let alone military action, his statement is largely rhetorical.

One EU diplomat told this website on Tuesday that China and Russia's UN veto are useful cover for Nato countries, including Turkey, many of which are unwilling to go to war or unsure how to handle the situation.

"It's interesting to see what would happen if China and Russia actually said: 'OK. Do what you want'," the contact noted.

Meanwhile, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain also on Tuesday expelled Syrian charges d'affaires and ambassadors in protest at Houla.

Belgium said three people, including the ambassador, have been declared persona non grata. The ambassador will stay in place anyway because he is also accredited to Catherine Ashton i's European External Action Service.

A spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief said there is no plan to cut him off at EU-level, in line with the EEAS i policy of also keeping open its embassy in Damascus to keep information flowing.