US Buildup in Syria Aimed at Toppling Gov't– French Lawmaker

The Pentagon’s plan to send additional troops to the aid of what it calls moderate forces in Syria proves that Washington is bent on toppling the country’s secular government, a member of the French parliament’s national defense commission told Sputnik on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned the uncalled-for buildup of US forces in Syria. The Russian top diplomat said that the US-led coalition's actions in Syria were illegal as entering a country without consent from its legitimate authorities was a "big mistake."

"The Americans didn’t ask an authorization from the Syrian authorities because they want to overthrow the regime but also they are trying to maintain a few of so-called moderate Islamist groups in the region," Nicolas Dhuicq, a lawmaker at the lower house National Assembly, said.

Dhuicq, who sits on the Assembly’s National Defense and Armed Forces Commission, told Sputnik that Washington appeared to be aiming for dividing the Middle East along ethnic and religious lines to them overthrow secular governments in the region to replace them with purportedly "moderate" Islamists.

On Monday, US President Barack Obama said he would send 250 US personnel to Syria, in addition to 50 special operations forces already on the ground, to help locals in their fight against Daesh, a jihadist group banned in Russia and some other states.