Eurasia Press & News
French President Francois Hollande met here Wednesday evening with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi to discuss cooperation between the two nations in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraqi and the Levant (ISIL), the Elysee Palace said.
The meeting with Hollande followed a major round of talks in Brussels earlier in the day, where around 60 countries that form the Coalition against ISIL met to review strategy and evaluate ways to improve the multi-layered fight against the Islamist extremists who are active in northern Iraq and eastern Syria.
Hollande said after the meeting that France was ready to increase its support for Iraq and accentuate its operations against ISIL.
France has nine Rafale fighter-bombers attacking ISIL targets from an airbase in the UAE and Hollande last week ordered six Mirage 2000 fighter-bombers to be deployed in Jordan to add more pressure on the ISIL militants.
The Elysee Palace quoted Hollande as telling Al-Abadi he would “continue to provide military support to Iraq” and France would “step up” operations quickly and efficiently against ISIL, which he said was carrying out “terrorist attacks” against Iraq on a large scale.
