Oh noes, shape-shifting Joooos!
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s ambassador to France appeared to resign Tuesday on a French television network, then less than an hour later Syrian state television aired her angry denial and threat to sue.
It was not immediately possible for The Associated Press to reconcile the two accounts or tell if the voices on the two networks belonged to the same woman. There was no video.
A top editor at France 24 said the network called a telephone number they had used previously for Ambassador Lamia Shakkour and she agreed to join a debate show, then abruptly announced her resignation in French and English.
Syria has been beset by 11 weeks of growing protests and a crackdown that activists say has left more than 1,300 people dead.
“Even if I always admired the courage of our armed forces, I cannot support this cycle of violence. I cannot ignore all the demonstrators who died in honor, and whose families today live in pain,” the woman said on France 24’s French language station, which was aired as audio with a photo of her. “My resignation as ambassador of Syria in France takes effect immediately.” France 24 broadcasts in French, English and Arabic.
Less than an hour later, Syrian state television aired a statement with a woman identifying herself as the ambassador and denying she had resigned.
“It’s part of this biased campaign of misinformation that seeks to do one thing: to destroy the credibility of this great nation, this nation of great people, great youth, great young women, this homeland that his worth more than anything else in this world,” the woman said in Arabic. There was no video.
In a later interview on al-Arabiya, the woman called the report of her resignation a Zionist conspiracy.
Renee Kaplan, deputy editorial director at France 24, said the network had invited Shakkour to appear on its live debate show, and she declared first English and then in French that she was resigning.
HT: Watcher