Exclusive excerpts of Paris Match interview of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, granted in Damascus on November 28th.
Paris Match: François Hollande continues to refer to you as an adversary. Do you think contact can ever be reestablished?
Bashar al-Assad: It is not a question of personal relations. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know him. It is about relations between states and institutions, and the interests of the two nations. We will work with any French dignitary or government in our common interests. But the current administration is working against the interest of our people and that of the French people. I am neither a personal enemy or rival of Hollande. I think that Daech is his rival, their popularity is very much the same.