Hollande calls for unity, global response to IS threats

Paris, Sep 15 (IANS/EFE) French President François Hollande said Monday that the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group required a global response which must come from the Iraqis themselves, while demanding the unity and support of the international community.

At the opening of a conference in Paris aimed at coordinating aid and action against the terrorist organisation, the French president said that "there is no time to lose" to a greater threat "to Iraq, the Middle East and the rest of world".

Hollande said the answer must be first humanitarian and then political, and this should include looking for a lasting solution in Syria, "in the place where the organisation was born".

"The fight of the Iraqis against terrorism is our fight as well," he said, calling for a "clear, loyal and strong" engagement in the country alongside the Iraqi government.

"We must support those who can negotiate and make the necessary compromises for the future of Syria," he said.

For France, those were the forces of the democratic opposition in Syria fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Hollande added at the conference that brought together representatives of 24 countries and the Arab League, the UN and the European Union.

The conference aims to define the strategy to fight the jihadi organisation and the role of each country in the international coalition announced last week by US President Barack Obama.

The murder of British aid worker David Haines, according to Hollande, was the latest demonstration of the danger the IS poses to the world.

It is a group "that seeks to found a state" and has "committed massacres and abuses against the civilian population", Hollande told the conference.

The French president welcomed the "sense of responsibility" of the new Iraqi authorities, and called on the international community to support them with "loyalty and unity".

During his speech, Hollande insisted that Iraq was not the only one affected by the large number of fighters from other countries, calling for stepping up the fight against those subsidiaries and "punish those who associate with them".

He also stressed the need to preserve the unity and ensure the security of Lebanon, "which hosts about two million Syrian refugees" and extend support to other countries such as Jordan.

Iraqi President Fuad Masum, who is co-chairing this conference, said that the activities of IS fighters emphasises the need to overcome "common strategic thinking of Al Qaeda" and needs "greater efforts" to prevent them from becoming sanctuaries and to cut their funding sources.

"This is a big problem that affects not only Iraq, but is going to spread to other parts of the world. Many jihadis come from Europe, and on their return they will be sleeper cells," he said in an interview with French radio station Europe 1.

Masum, who is in Paris to attend the international conference on peace and security in Iraq, stressed the need to "act quickly" because otherwise the IS would make more territorial gains in neighbouring Syria as well.

The Iraqi president reiterated that his country did not need troops on the ground from the international coalition, but rather military air support and finding ways to cut the funding of the terrorist group.

"Arab countries have an important role to play. We need their support," said Masum, who will meet with Hollande later Monday.

--IANS/EFE

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