The Swiss-French cement company LafargeHolcim should have stopped its operations in war-torn Syria before it did, its chairman said in an interview published Sunday, after three executives were charged with indirectly financing jihadists.

Beat Hess told French daily Le Figaro that the group was going through "a difficult phase" that was "a problem for the company's reputation".

..."Unacceptable errors were made which the company regrets and condemns," Hess said, adding that Lafarge "probably pulled out of Syria too late".

...Hess, who became chairman of the company in May 2016, said that he had "full confidence" in the French legal system, and that "if we can help, we will do so".