France | Outreach to Syria

[Alexander]

Empire de France
Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères

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From: Sophie Dubois, Ministre de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, France
To: Muhammad Qasim, Leader, Syria Drivindeath
CC:
Classification: Confidential

Subject: Franco-Syrian Relations

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Your Excellency,

Please allow me to extend the formal congratulations of the Empire of France on your liberation of the Syrian state and people from decades of oppressive rule. The Assad regime has long been an enemy to the world, France, and most importantly the Syrian people themselves.

As I said in our original statement we recognize the Islamic Liberation Army of the Levant's position as the most prominent movement representing the interests of the largest part of the Syrian population. As a consequence we have decided to recognize your administration. We repeat our call for the transition process to include all ethnic minorities within Syria and as many societal groups as possible. This is both the best guarantee of a stable Syrian administration and the best way to guarantee long-term international support, despite the more extremist origins of the movement.

In line with our commitment we have lifted all embargoes except for the weapons embargo from the Syrian administration, once a permanent government is established we will remove that embargo along with the negative travel advisory as well.

To aid the transition process, and to provide long-term support to the Syrian people I would like to open formal talks with yourself or a representative of your movement and the Minister delegate for the Middle East Nabila Michaud. At this meeting we would like to discuss both how France could be of service to the Syrian state and what relation if any the Syrian state would be interested in maintaining with France.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Sophie Dubois,
Ministre de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères,

 

[Drivindeath]

ISLAMIC LIBERATION ARMY IN THE LEVANT
Temporary Governance

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Encryption: Encrypted/Private
Recipient: Sophie Dubois, Ministre de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères Alexander
Sender: Muhammad Qasim
Subject Re: Franco-Syrian Relations

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Dear Recipient Sophie Dubois,

As-salamu alaikum,

I am glad that my broadcast was able to reach out into the world. I was hoping to hear from Western Powers. Due to the limited resources available I was unsure who might have seen me speak. Let me start off first with saying that the Islamic Liberation Army in the Levant is not a political entity. We are as it states in our name, an Army. I thank you in congratulating us however. Our movement gained traction because every true citizen of Syria was done with tyrannical rule. Second let me state that in the address of this message it has me listed as "Leader, Syria", I must state that I am not the Leader of Syria. I am but a vessel of the Syrian Peoples will. I am a soldier not a politician. I do intend to step down as soon as possible to allow fair and free elections to take place.

To address any concerns the ILAL controls all major cities in Syria. We are by far the largest group in the Islamic Republican Guard in the Levant. This does not mean however, that we have more forces then the rest of the IRGL. Even with our Allies in the league, we are still outnumbered by the remaining factions. The ILAL and allies remains committed to the ethical treatment of all no matter their, race, sex, religion, age, or creed. We have requested to the rest of the IRGL council to cease attacks on Kurdish backed peoples. This request was promptly denied and ignored. The IRGL will not last much longer and another civil war will happen, unless foreign intervention happens.

Unfortunately to have a meeting would be considered tricky. You see while my forces do occupy Damascus, the Damascus International Airport is now in ruins. The runways are completely bombed and unrepairable. The Russians currently occupy any means of coming in by sea as well. The roads that lead to Damascus are shattered as well. We had to cut off supply lines on our way in to ensure victory. To make matters worse many fled Syria during the assaults, which led to a mass decrease in the available labor pool. My soldiers are doing what they can to get the infrastructure back online but they are not engineers, technicians, or construction workers. What we do have however are open fields, which can serve as makeshift runways, although it would be risky. I do welcome any assistance France can provide, and any that Frances allies may provide.

It is my goal to restore Syria to a prosperous country with ties to western powers and values.

Sincerely,

Muhammad Qasim
Commander
Islamic Liberation Army in the Levant

 

[Alexander]

Empire de France
Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères

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From: Sophie Dubois, Ministre de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères, France
To: Muhammad Qasim, Commander, Islamic Liberation Army in the Levant Drivindeath
BCC: Her Imperial Majesty Thérèse, Empress of the French, Marquis Marie Lefebvre, Prime Minister of France, Duchess Léa Moreau, Minister of the Armed Forces
Classification: Top Secret

Subject: French Intervention

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Commander Qasim,

Thank you for the clarifications and my apologies for the errors in my initial message. I have discussed your message in full with Her Imperial Majesty as well as the Minister of the Armed Forces, and I believe the Empire of France may be able to aid you with the problems you mentioned.

First of all concerning the setup of a meeting, as effective as digital communications are the nature of the crisis in Syria in our view still benefits from having a face to face meeting, as well as having a French official in country with the authority to make immediate commitments on behalf of the Empress and France. With your permission we would like to send in our Minister delegate using an alternative method. The Empire of France has a Carrier Strike Group in the Mediterranean currently. Our Minister delegate could travel to Damascus using a helicopter from the French Ship Jeanne d'Arc along with a fighter escort from that same ship to guarantee her safety against a Russian or other interception. The Minister delegate would be escorted by around two dozen Azure Guard, meaning that your own forces would not need to dedicate any personnel to her safety. The only thing we would require from you is your permission for our personnel and units to enter the country.

Secondly, the Empire of France is willing to put our proverbial (and literal) money where our mouth is when it comes to our support of your movement and plans to create a transitional government to govern all of Syria fairly. With your permission we would like to provide military instructors to train your fighters to transform into a professional military force, police officials to train a civilian Syrian police force, civil engineers and other engineers to aid with the maintenance and reconstruction of Syrian infrastructure, and legal scholars to aid with the creation of the legal framework for a new multi-ethnic and free Syria. Beyond the personnel we would also like to contribute resources and investments to revitalize the Syrian economy and infrastructure, and important in the immediate a military support package to equip your fighters with state of the art equipment for use against the other IRGL extremist factions and any other force that stands in the way of a new Syria. We would be willing to immediately provide a military support package valued at 1 billion and expand that to 5 billion in the short-term.

Thirdly, should you be open to it the Empire of France is willing to provide direct military support to the ILAL. This intervention could range from simple air support to special operations forces insertion to a full landing by a division-sized force from the Imperial Army along with a sustained air and naval support campaign. In essence, we would be willing to fight alongside the Islamic Liberation Army in the Levant against extremist factions and other groups that stand in the way of establishing peace.

As said, however, our commitment is to the Syrian people to be the architects of their own future first, and as such we will only take any of these steps with your approval. We are not looking to return to Syria as a colonial overlord but rather as a friend.

I hope you will at least allow us to insert miss Michaud into Syria and to Damascus to facilitate the direct interaction. We do of course assume any risk and understand that if anything goes wrong with her or any other personnel that is our own responsibility.

Sincerely,
Sophie Dubois,
Ministre de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères,