PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday named centrist ally François Bayrou as prime minister in an effort to address the country's deep political crisis, after a historic parliamentary vote ousted the previous government last week.
Bayrou, 73, a crucial partner in Macron’s centrist alliance, has been a well-known figure in French politics for decades. His political experience is seen as key in efforts to restore stability as no single party holds a majority at the National Assembly.
Macron’s office said in a statement that Bayrou “has been charged with forming a new government.”
Former Prime Minister Michel Barnier resigned last week following a no-confidence vote prompted by budget disputes in the National Assembly, leaving France without a functioning government. Macron in an address to the nation vowed to remain in office until his term ends in 2027.
Bayrou is expected to hold talks with political leaders from various parties in the coming days in order to choose new ministers.
The task appears challenging because Macron’s centrist alliance does not have a majority in parliament and Bayrou’s Cabinet will need to rely on moderate lawmakers from both the left and right to be able to stay in power.
Some conservatives are expected to be part of the new government.
Macron’s strategy aims at preventing far-right leader Marine Le Pen from holding “make or break” power over the government. Le Pen helped oust Barnier by joining her National Rally party’s forces to the left to pass the no-confidence motion last week.
The president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, said Friday his party will take a wait-and-see approach for now. “Our red lines are still there, they’re not going to change,” he warned.
National Rally officials, including Le Pen, have said they want any new budget law to preserve the purchasing power of the French people.
Bayrou’s appointment comes also in line with Macron’s efforts to build a non-aggression pact with the Socialists so that they commit not to vote against the government in any future confidence motion.
Mathilde Panot, head of the hard-left France Unbowed group at the National Assembly, criticized Bayrou’s appointment in a message on X as “the continuity of (Macron’s) bad policies.” She said her party is ready to vote for a no-confidence motion again against the new government.
Bayrou leads the centrist Democratic Movement, known as MoDem, which he founded in 2007.
In 2017, he supported Macron’s first presidential bid and became a weighty partner in the French president’s centrist alliance.
At the time, he was appointed justice minister, but he quickly resigned from the government amid an investigation into the MoDem’s alleged embezzlement of European Parliament funds.
Bayrou this year was cleared in the case by a Paris court, which found eight other party officials guilty and sentenced the party to pay a fine.
Bayrou became well known to the French public when he was education minister from 1993 to 1997 in a conservative government.
He was three times a candidate for president, in 2002, 2007 and 2012.
FILE - French centrist party MoDem (Mouvement Democrate) leader Francois Bayrou leaves after a meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron names key centrist ally François Bayrou as new prime minister Friday Dec.13 2024. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
FILE - French centrist party MoDem (Mouvement Democrate) leader Francois Bayrou speaks to reporters after a meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron names key centrist ally François Bayrou as new prime minister Friday Dec.13 2024. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
FILE - French centrist party MoDem (Mouvement Democrate) leader Francois Bayrou speaks to reporters after a meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron names key centrist ally François Bayrou as new prime minister Friday Dec.13 2024. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, right, meets French centrist party MoDem (Mouvement Democrate) leader Francois Bayrou at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron names key centrist ally François Bayrou as new prime minister Friday Dec.13 2024. (Ludovic Marin/Pool photo via AP, File)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pressing ahead with efforts to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria.
He is meeting on Friday with Turkey's foreign minister after talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to bring Turkey into a consensus to prevent Syria from collapsing into wider turmoil. It's Blinken's 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza last year but first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already heightened tensions in the region and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence.
The fighting between Israel and Hamas has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war in Gaza was sparked by an Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas in southern Israel in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Here's the latest:
DAMASCUS — The kingdom of Bahrain sent a message Friday to Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency that toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
It said Bahrain is “fully prepared to consult with you continuously and to provide support in regional and international organizations to achieve what is in the interest of the brotherly Syrian people.”
It added, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.” Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit.
Syria was readmitted to the Arab League last year after 12 years of ostracization. It is still unclear how the international community will deal officially with the new interim government in Syria.
JERUSALEM - Israel’s defense minister told troops to prepare to remain through the winter months on the peak of Mount Hermon, Syria’s highest point, located in a swath of southern Syria that Israeli troops moved into after the fall of Damascus to insurgents.
The comments by Defense Minister Israel Katz signaled that the military will extend its occupation of the zone along the border, which Israel says it seized to create a buffer zone.
In a statement Friday, Katz said that holding the peak was of major importance for Israel’s security and that it would be necessary to build facilities there to sustain troops through the winter.
The summit of Mount Hermon, the highest peak on the eastern Mediterranean coast at 2,814 meters (9,232 feet), gives a commanding view over the plains of southern Syria. It also positions Israeli troops about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the center of Damascus. The mount is divided between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli troops would remain in the zone until another force across the border in Syria could guarantee security. Israeli troops moved into the zone -– set as a demilitarized area inside Syrian territory under truce deals that ended the 1973 Mideast war -- after the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell last weekend.
ANKARA, Turkey -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the United States on what they would like to see in Syria following the ouster of President Bashar Assad.
“There’s broad agreement on what we would like to see going forward, starting with the interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said in joint statements with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
The insurgent groups that toppled Assad in Syria have not made clear their policy or stance on Israel, whose military in recent days has bombed sites all over the country, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands.
Blinken also said it was crucial to keep the Islamic State group under control.
“We also discussed the imperative of continuing the efforts to keep ISIS down. Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again,” Blinken said.
The Turkish foreign minister said the two discussed ways of establishing prosperity in Syria and ending terrorism in the country.
“Our priority is establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant,” Fidan said, in a reference to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party.
Blinken said: “We’re very focused on Syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the Syrian people to move from out from under the shackles of Bashar al-Assad to a different and better future for the Syrian people, one that the Syrian people decide for themselves.”
Blinken and Fidan said they had also discussed a ceasefire for Gaza.
“We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks more encouraging signs that (a ceasefire) is possible,” Blinken said.
Blinken, who is making his 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Assad, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday.
The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already heightened tensions in the region, which is already wracked by multiple conflicts, and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence.
Later Friday, Blinken is to return to Jordan for meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations.
ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has appointed a temporary charge d’affaires to reopen its embassy in Syria, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported.
The Turkish Embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security problems during the Syrian civil war and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey.
The Anadolu Agency said late Thursday that Turkey appointed Burhan Koroglu, its ambassador in Mauritania, to the post.
UNITED NATIONS- – Two U.N. aid convoys were violently attacked in Gaza, making it virtually impossible for humanitarian agencies to operate without putting staff and civilians at risk, the U.N. food agency says.
On Wednesday, a 70-truck convoy from Kerem Shalom was waiting for personnel to safeguard the food and other aid destined for central Gaza when there were reported attacks by Israeli forces in the nearby humanitarian zone, the U.N. World Food Program said Thursday.
More than 50 people are now estimated to have died in the attacks, including civilians and local security personnel who had been expected to ensure the convoy’s safety, WFP said.
The Rome-based agency said the convoy was forced to proceed from Kerem Shalom to central Gaza without any security arrangements, using the Philadelphi corridor, an Israeli-controlled route that had been recently approved and successfully utilized twice.
On the way, WFP said, conflict and insecurity led to a loss of communication with the convoy for more than 12 hours. ”Eventually, the trucks were found but all food and aid supplies were looted,” the U.N. agency said.
In a second incident, Israeli soldiers approached a WFP convoy moving out of the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza, fired warning shots, conducted extensive security checks, and temporarily detained drivers and staff, the agency said.
“As the trucks were delayed, four out of the five trucks were lost to violent armed looting,” WFP said.
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief has a message for Israel: Stop the attacks on Syria.
Secretary-General António Guterres is particularly concerned about several hundred Israeli airstrikes on several Syrian locations and stresses “the urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the previous 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists.
Israel also acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following last week’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The buffer zone was established after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1973 war.
Dujarric said Guterres condemns all actions violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries that remain in force. And the U.N. chief calls on the parties to uphold the agreement and end “all unauthorized presence in the area of separation” and refrain from any action undermining the ceasefire and stability in the Golan Heights, the spokesman said.
A Palestinian child injured in an Israeli strike on a building arrives at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and their supporters protest outside of the U.S. Embassy branch office during a visit by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to call for an immediate hostage release deal, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A Palestinian boy pushes a wheelchair carrying jerrycans and plastic bottles with water at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Syrians wait to cross into Syria from Turkey at the Oncupinar border gate, near the town of Kilis, southern Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A man rides his motorcycle past shops and stores that, according to locals, have been destroyed for been used or owned by Bashar Assad's supporters, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Turkish charity organisation Fetih distributes bread at the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp inn the outskirts of Damascus Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israeli soldiers stand next to armoured vehicles before crossing the security fence, moving towards the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Israeli soldiers with the national flag stand on an armoured vehicle after crossing the security fence near the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Morners attend the funeral procession of Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada in Damascus Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Al-Hamad's mangled corpse was found wrapped in a bloody sheet in Saydnaya prison. He had fled to Europe but returned to Syria in 2020 and was imprisoned upon arrival. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian man speaks on his mobile phone as stands on the stairs of a damaged building in the town of Harasta, east of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
Syrians gather in celebration days after the fall of Bashar Assad's government at Umayyad Square in Damascus, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
