President Bashar al-Assad received on Sunday the visiting French delegation that includes parliamentarians, intellectuals, researchers and journalists.

The President said the delegation’s visit coincides with the army taking control of the ancient city of Palmyra, which was announced earlier today.

Having Palmyra in the army’s hands, he said, is an important achievement and new evidence of the effectiveness of the strategy followed by the Syrian army and its allies in the war against terrorism.

The effectiveness of this strategy is further highlighted especially as opposed to the US-led coalition involving more than sixty countries and its lack of seriousness in fighting terrorism and the very little it has achieved since its establishment one and a half years ago, added the President.

Commenting on the delegation’s visit, President al-Assad said such visits by parliamentary delegations and having them inspecting firsthand the reality of the situation in various Syrian cities and areas could be useful for them to efficiently work towards correcting the wrong policies and inadequate concepts adopted by some governments, including that of France, towards what is happening in Syria.

Those policies are not limited to providing cover to the terrorists, but have gone further to imposing unfair economic sanctions that have badly affected the living conditions of the Syrian people, the President added.

The French delegation members, for their part, expressed their solidarity with the Syrian people and affirmed that they will continue efforts towards helping in having the Syrians’ suffering alleviated and the economic blockade imposed on them lifted.

They voiced hope that stability and peace will be restored to Syria as soon as possible, highlighting the importance of maintaining the cultural diversity characterizing the country.

The situation in Syria was discussed during the meeting, with President al-Assad briefing the delegation on the latest developments on the military and political levels.

In a statement to SANA, member of the Parliamentary Committee on the Foreign Affairs at the National Assembly who heads the delegation Thierry Mariani said: “It is the second time I meet President Bashar al-Assad. In this visit, I sensed a complete about-face in the atmosphere due to the Russian participation and the successes of the Syrian army,” indicating that the defeat of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra is only a “matter of time.”

National reconciliations, reconstruction and rebuilding what has been destroyed dominated President al-Assad’s talk during the meeting, he added, hailing the recapture of Palmyra city as “a highly significant news” for Syria and the entire world.

During his meeting with a French delegation on November 14, the President blamed the wrong policies of the Western countries, especially France, for contributing to the spread of terrorism.