Military aid for Iraqi authorities

An international conference in Paris has wrapped up with foreign ministers pledging to combat "Islamic State" fighters in Iraq and Syria. However, there was no detail about concrete plans to tackle the militants.

A joint communiqué released at the end of the conference in Paris on Monday the around 30 countries and multilateral organizations represented there said they had agreed on "the urgent need to remove Daech from the regions in which it has established in Iraq," referring to the "Islamic State" (IS) by its Arabic acronym.

The statement also pledged to support the Iraqi forces trying to defeat the jihadists in the north of the country "by any means necessary, including the appropriate military assistance, in line with the needs expressed by the Iraqi authorities, in accordance with international law and without jeopardizing civilian security."

Speaking at the start of the conference a few hours earlier, French President Francois Hollande had stressed the urgency of bringing together members of a US-led coalition to take coordinated action against the "Islamic State" (IS),whose fighters now control large swathes of territory in northern Iraq and Syria.

"By holding this conference the countries that are gathered here today are showing their solidarity with regard to Iraq," the French president said.

Iraqi President Fuad Masum also stressed the urgency of tackling the IS.

"Hope lies in a swift and radical decision against this new form of terrorism," said Masum, who summed up the Islamic State's ideology as: "You are with us or we kill you."

While the communiqué issued at the end of the conference included general statements of intent, it failed to provide any detail on what military aid was being considered, or what other concrete steps may be envisaged.

French reconnaissance flights

However, just moments before it began, France's defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, announced that French military aircraft would begin reconnaissance flights over Iraq later on Monday.

During a trip to Baghdad last week President Hollande said French fighter jets could eventually take part in air strikes on IS fighters if necessary.

The conference came after US Secretary of State John Kerry had traveled to several countries in the Middle East in an effort to drum up support for the coalition.

'Time for action'

Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who represented Berlin at the Paris talks, said now was a "time for action," however he also warned that the battle against the IS could not be won through military means alone.

Meanwhile, in the first trial of its kind, a 20-year-old German man went on trial in the western city of Frankfurt on Monday, accused of having traveled to Syria to fight for the Islamic State. He has been in custody since being arrested upon his return to Germany last December.

pfd/bw(AP, Reuters, dpa, AFP)