In France, several lawmakers violated their government's diplomatic stance against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by flying to Damascus to meet with the dictator, reports Deutsche Welle.
French prime minister Manuel Valls commented on the unofficial meeting a day after its occurrence, telling French television channel BFM TV that he "condemned [it] with the greatest strength."
"For parliamentarians to go without warning to meet a butcher.... I think it was an ethical transgression," he added.
The MPs were identified as Gérard Bapt, Jean-Pierre Vial, Jacques Myard and François Zochetto. Both Bapt and Vial are presidents of the parliament's France-Syria Friendship Group. Bapt, who is part of President François Hollande's Socialist Party, reportedly did not attend the meeting with al-Assad.
Paris suspended its diplomatic ties with Damascus in 2012 when a war broke out between al-Assad's government and pockets of the civilian population seeking his resignation. Western powers have repeatedly condemned al-Assad for turning government troops against Syrians and have accused him of using chemical weapons.
Syrian state TV indicated that the group had primarily discussed terrorism, although none the group's members divulged the contents of the hour-long meeting.
"Coming here does not mean we back what's happened," said Myard, an MP from the opposition UMP party. "The objective is to understand Assad's regime better, because we don't believe we can fight Islamic State without Syria."
On Thursday, the Socialist Party said it was considering sanctions against Bapt for taking part in the unsanctioned trip.