Syria says US and French diplomats visited country illegally

Syria has complained to the United Nations that US Senator John McCain, former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and former US diplomat Peter Galbraith entered the country without visas, Reuters reported yesterday.

Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the 15-member Security Council to pressure governments to take “the necessary measures against their nationals who entered Syrian territory illegally”.

According to the report, the Syrian regime considered these actions violation of its sovereignty. “Such actions are a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and of the resolutions of the Security Council concerning Syria,” Ja’afari wrote in a letter dated December 30 and seen by Reuters yesterday.

He complained generally about “certain journalists and prominent figures” entering Syria illegally. McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, visited Syria in May 2013 and met with some Syrian rebels, according to Reuters.

Ja’afari mentioned Kouchner, who visited in November 2014, Galbraith for traveling to Syria in December 2014 with other US political and military leaders.