 Furthermore, French defence analyst and former intelligence officer, Eric Dénécé, referred to Obeidi's allegations as "patent nonsense", citing the fact that "in November 2011 France’s stance towards Syria actually toughened, with Paris being the first country to recognise the rebel Syrian National Council".He would also state that "France did not need Syria’s help to track Gaddafi and Assad would certainly not have sold [Gaddafi's] telephone number in such a way.