PARIS (AP) — Diplomats from around the world are pledging to fight Islamic State militants “by any means necessary.”
The declaration came from 24 nations taking part in a conference in Paris on how to deal with the extremists in Syria and Iraq.
Two foes of the Islamic State group — Iran and the United States — have ruled out coordinating their efforts. The U.S. is leaving open the possibility of new talks with Iran later this week, though it says there won’t be any military cooperation.
Neither Iran nor Syria was invited to the conference.
The gathering got under way even as a pair of French reconnaissance jets took off over Iraqi skies.
Iraq’s president told the diplomats that his government wants to see regular airstrikes against areas held by the militant group. He also said the financing of the Islamic State group needs to be cut off, and that fighters in neighboring countries who want to join the group must be stopped.
After the conference ended, Secretary of State John Kerry met with the Iraqi president at the Iraqi Embassy in Paris — and told him that the drive for an inclusive Iraqi government had been key to today’s pledges.
%@AP Links
171-a-13-(Secretary of State John Kerry, to Iraqi President Fuad Masum at global summmit on response to Islamic State group)-“was worth it”-Secretary of State John Kerry, during a global summmit on how to respond to the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, tells the Iraqi president that his country’s struggle to form a new government is finally paying off. ((note audio quality)) (15 Sep 2014)
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156-a-13-(Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari (EE’-brah-heem ahl JAH’-fah-ree), speaking through interpreter, with reporters)-“will stand united”-Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari says, through an interpreter, that Iraqis should not feel alone in their fight against Islamic State militants. (15 Sep 2014)
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APPHOTO MEU115: From left, Iraqi President Fouad Massum stands next to Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong, who is greeted by French President Francois Hollande, while French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry greet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as they arrive for a group photo at the French Foreign ministry in Paris, Monday Sept. 15, 2014, prior to a meeting on the Islamic State group. Diplomats from around the world are in Paris pressing for a coherent global strategy to combat extremists from the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool) (15 Sep 2014)
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