It looked as if Syria's ambassador to France, Lamia Shakkour, might have resigned from her position, but then decided to take it back, according to reports from both French and Syrian television. In a voice broadcast delivered by France 24, it looked as if Shakkour had read a statement condemning Syrian government's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
France 24 claims that it had contacted Shakkour on the same exact phone number it had used in previous months when contacting the diplomat. “The government's response has not been the right one,” Shakkour told a France 24 broadcaster by telephone, according to an article.
Immediately following this voice broadcast, another voice message supposedly from the ambassador denied that she was quitting and she had been impersonated. This recording was broadcast by Syrian TV, according to the official news agency of Syria called Sana.
“I am so irritated with this false news which appeared on some Arab and foreign channels ... It is part of the tendentious misleading propaganda which aims at one thing, that is to undermine Syria's credibility,” Shakkour said in a statement within the Syrian TV recording.
France 24 is claiming to stand by its story and stated that in the France 24 interview, Shakkour said, “I cannot support this cycle of violence. I cannot ignore all the demonstrators who have died with honor and whose families are today living in sorrow.”
However in the Syrian TV interview, Shakkour stated, “Nothing in the world is more valuable than this homeland ... and nobody can question the loyalty of any honest Syrian citizen. I am an integral part of this homeland and people and of its representatives in the Syrian parliament and government.”
Which voice broadcast was actually from Shakkour and which was a hoax? It seems that answer still remains a mystery.
Jamie Epstein is a TMCnet Web Editor. Previously she interned at News 12 Long Island as a reporter's assistant. After working as an administrative assistant for a year, she joined TMC (News - Alert) as a Web editor for TMCnet. Jamie grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in broadcasting from Five Towns College. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Rich Steeves