Paris: The French government plans to strip Bashar Al Assad of his Legion d’Honneur, France’s most prestigious award, days after participating in air strikes against suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria.
“The Elysee confirms that a disciplinary procedure for withdrawing the Legion d’Honneur [Legion of Honour] is underway,” President Emmanuel Macron’s office said late Monday.
Al Assad was decorated with the Legion’s highest rank of Grand Croix (Great Cross) by former president Jacques Chirac in 2001, shortly after taking power following the death of his father Hafez Al Assad.
Only a French president, who by tradition is the top-ranking Legion member, can decide to withdraw the distinction from a foreigner.
About 3,000 people are granted the distinction each year, including 400 foreigners recognised for their “services rendered to France” or for defending human rights, press freedom or other causes, according to the Legion’s web site.
Al Assad has become a pariah for Western powers while maintaining the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose military intervention in the conflict gave Assad the upper hand against rebel opposition groups.
Putin himself is also a recipient of the Legion’s Grand Croix, decorated by Chirac in 2006.
