By John Irish and Marine Pennetier PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Bashar al-Assad was the enemy of millions of his own people and in no position to lecture France, after the Syrian leader accused Paris of supporting terrorism. After a string of strong comments by French officials blaming Assad's government for atrocities and failed talks, Assad said on Monday France was supporting bloodshed in Syria, making it unfit to talk about peace settlements. "France spearheaded support for terrorism and their hands are soaked in Syrian blood from the first days and we do not see they have changed their stance fundamentally," Assad was quoted in state media as saying. "Those who support terrorism have no right to talk about peace,” Assad added. Despite being a leading backer of the Syrian opposition, France has sought a more pragmatic approach to the conflict since the arrival of Macron, saying that Assad's departure was not a pre-condition for talks to end the six-year war. Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Macron hit back at Assad. "I don't think Syria boils down to Bashar al-Assad," Macron said. "The Syrian people have an enemy. There are millions of Syrians outside of Syria and they have an enemy who is Bashar al-Assad. That's the reality." "On the military front we have a priority which is war against Daesh (Islamic State) and that's why his (Assad's) statements are unacceptable because if there is someone that has fought and can defeat Daesh ... it is the international coalition." France and other members of a U.S.-led coalition have launched air strikes against Islamic State targets. Macron said on Monday he would push for peace talks involving all parties, including Assad, promising “initiatives” early next year, although it remains unclear how any French proposal would relate to existing United Nations' efforts. He criticized separate Russian talks in Astana with Iran and Turkey meant to reduce violence and possibly pave the way to Syrian talks in Sochi next year. Those initiatives would fail, Macron said, because they did not include Assad's opponents and were an attempt to impose a solution on Syrians. "I don't believe in a resolution of a conflict by external forces that want to impose a peace ... and I don't believe in indulging someone that thinks their country boils down to them." (Additional reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman and Richard Lough in Paris; Editing by William Maclean and Andrew Heavens)

A New York City teenager accused of stabbing two classmates, one of them fatally, said he "snapped" on the day of the incident because the boys wouldn't stop bullying him.

"That day, I tried to walk away," Abel Cedeno, 18, said Monday in an exclusive interview with ABC New York station WABC-TV. "I was near the entrance to the classroom, and they continued to throw stuff. The class was very rowdy and loudness and everything.”

“I just snapped. I started screaming and screaming," he said.

Cedeno, who was released on a $250,000 bond last month, is awaiting trial on manslaughter charges in connection with the September stabbing death of classmate Matthew McCree, 15. McCree’s friend, Ariane Laboy, 16, survived the attack but sustained several stab wounds.


PHOTO: Students and parents are led out of the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation after a high school stabbing left one teenager dead and another critically wounded, Sept. 27, 2017 in Bronx, New York. (Amir Levy/Polaris)
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The attack happened at a Bronx building housing the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation and P.S. 67, police said. Cedeno has entered a plea of not guilty.

Cedeno said he’d been bullied since middle school when he was struggling with his sexuality.

He said classmates “used derogatory terms" toward him and said he was “gay because he is growing out his hair and has a high-pitched voice," adding the alleged bullying caused him to contemplate suicide.

"I tried to overdose on some pills, but the next day I woke up," Cedeno told WABC. "I didn't want to be surrounded by those kids. Whenever I went to school, I felt trapped. Like I was put in a cage with a whole bunch of animals."

Cedeno’s family said it plans to sue the NYC school system, which it said could have prevented the incident by doing more to stop the alleged bullying against him. Cedeno said his mother complained to the school and even tried to get him transferred, but no one listened.

A spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education said, “Nothing is more important than the safety of students and staff, and the tragedy is being investigated.”