Obama says US, France stand united against Islamic State, terrorism

Paris: Germany pledged to stand beside France in its fight against Islamic State jihadists, as French President Francois Hollande prepared to visit Moscow as part of his whirlwind diplomatic tour in the wake of the Paris attacks.

The West has accused Moscow of targeting mainly Western-backed rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s ally.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said France was only able to conduct its airstrikes in Syria with the aid of the U.S., which provided intelligence on targets and other assistance. Obtaining the last point is seen as a victory for Hollande.

Jeb Bush said President Obama’s plan to stand up to ISIS by attending a global warming conference is “breathtaking in its naiveté”.

Hollande, pitching a message he had taken to other major capitals with varying degrees of success, said, “We have to form this large coalition together to strike against terrorism”.

The Washington Post notes that the two leaders found common ground after both their countries were targeted by ISIS. “We believe that we would better create a single, united coalition as it would be easier, simpler and more efficient to coordinate our work that way”.

But, the AP says, France and Russian Federation remain at odds in their approach toward Assad. Both Obama and Hollande, however, insisted that a political transition in Syria must lead to Assad’s departure. Putin stressed that “the Syrian president’s fate should be entirely in the hands of the Syrian people”.

The US military has backed up Turkey’s claim that Turkish pilots warned the Russian jet 10 times – but failed to get a response – before shooting it down. Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the government had also agreed to provide satellite surveillance. But authorities lowered the threat level in Brussels to the second-highest level.

The reconnaissance aircrafts will also support France in its fight against Islamist extremists.

The lowering of the threat level came as a surprise, since the government had said it would likely keep the highest threat level until Monday.

Authorities launched a raid in southern Belgium on Thursday afternoon linked to the Paris attacks, but didn’t detain any suspects.

Germany now provides weapons and training for Kurds fighting against IS in Iraq.