PARIS - French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Friday said cooperation with Syria's ground governmental forces is possible in order to fight the Islamic State (IS) but without President Bashar al-Assad.

"We don't want to send our forces, this would be counterproductive. But (there can be) Syrian soldiers from the Free Syrian Army, Sunni Arab states and why not regime troops," Fabius told RTL radio.

"Assad cannot be the future of his people," he stressed.

Rebuffing Russia's proposal to support the Syrian government to be a part of international efforts to end the four-year-conflict, French President Francois Hollande set the departure of the Syrian president as a pre-condition for negotiating a political transition in Syria. (Xinhua)