Local group offering help for Syrian refugees

The presidents of France and Russian Federation agreed Thursday to tighten cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State group, although they remained at odds over their approach toward Syrian President Bashar Assad.

He said he has been “touched by the generosity of Americans who’ve written me letters and emails in recent weeks, offering to open their homes to refugees fleeing the brutality of ISIL (Islamic State group)”.

France has stipulated that for closer coordination with Russian Federation to occur, Moscow must stop Assad from bombing civilians, focus its strikes exclusively on Islamic State and similar groups and commit seriously to finding a political solution without Assad.

Both Obama and Hollande pointedly ignored the plane episode in their opening remarks at a White House news conference and, when pressed for a response, defended North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Turkey.

“And given the shocking images, I know that Americans have been asking each other where – whether it’s safe here, whether it’s safe to fly or gather”, he said, referring to the series of strikes on November 13 in Paris that killed 130 people.

Hollande’s hard task became even more arduous after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday.

“Obama says, it’s this kind of slow, contained, run ’em down kind of strategy and the ISIS strategy is ‘Well, as long as we’re standing and the black flag is flying, we’re winning, ‘” he explained.

On Tuesday, Obama met with French President François Hollande. While Russia doesn’t intend to fight with Turkey, it has questions about the actions of the present Turkish leadership, he said. Despite Obama’s stated vow to “degrade and destroy” the Islamic State, the USA and its allies are conducting markedly fewer air raids than one might expect.

“We still have not heard any articulate apologies from Turkey’s highest political level nor any proposals to compensate for the harm and damage nor promises to punish criminals responsible for their crimes”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

But, Obama said, the United States already has a robust coalition of 65 countries fighting against the Islamic State. He said Turkey had a right to defend its borders, but harbors no aggressive intent.

In a press conference along with Obama, Hollande said that they made a decision to step up air strikes, strengthen intelligence sharing on the terrorist targets and the priority will be to recover the key points occupied by the extremists. But Walker said he has directed state officials not to assist in any federal effort to bring Syrian refugees here. “We do not want to exclude anyone”.

This was the first meeting between the two leaders after the Paris terror attacks.

Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens said Paris fugitive Salah Abdeslam was “likely” getting support from others, saying it was unlikely Abdeslam could hide despite a almost two-week manhunt without help.