Obama and Hollande call for greater cooperation against ISIL
The presidents of France and the United States have called for a renewed international effort to fight Islamic State militants. Francois Hollande and Barack Obama have been meeting to discuss strengthening cooperation on military intelligence in the wake of the attacks on Paris in which 130 people were killed. Obama expressed his solidarity and sympathy for France and said “IS poses a serious threat to us all but fear mustn’t be allowed to divide us.” Both men also said ISIL must be destroyed, its ideology defeated and they insisted that a political solution must be found that does not result in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remaining in power. And there was support for Turkey over its downing of a Russian fighter jet. Obama said Turkey had a right to defend itself and called for dialogue but he also added the shooting underlines the ongoing problem with Russia’s operations close to Turkey’s border. “Moscow is focused on helping Assad and is targeting moderate opposition in Syria rather than ISIL,” he said.
