Anti-ISIS coalition to discuss action

2015-06-02 09:32:53

NEWS DESK (DİHA) - Ministers from 20 countries are to meet in Paris to discuss strategy against ISIS gang militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will attend, but US Secretary of State John Kerry will miss the meeting because of a cycling accident. The meeting comes after ISIS took the Iraqi city of Ramadi last month.

Iraq has become increasingly reliant on Shia volunteers to take on ISIS, raising fears over the possibility of worsening sectarian tensions. With coalition air strikes against ISIS failing to have the impact many had hoped, talk is increasingly turning to Iraq's political terrain.

The new role for Shia fighters - many backed by Iran - in Sunni areas is adding to what France has called "an especially fragile" situation. Ministers will discuss "lasting political solutions in order to resolve the Iraqi crisis," the French foreign ministry said.

The meeting comes a day after at least 45 Iraqi police officers were killed in an ISIS attack in Iraq's Anbar province.

As well as discussing the military situation, the meeting in Paris is expected to address threats to cultural heritage, protection of persecuted minorities and the refugee crisis created by the conflict. ISIS has already destroyed ancient sites in Iraq that pre-date Islam and there are fears it may do the same to the Roman-era ruins in Palmyra.

A footage appearing to show ISIS militants torturing a 14-year-old Syrian boy. The footage, filmed by an ISIS defector, shows the boy being beaten while he hangs by his wrists. The UN has accused ISIS and other armed groups in Syria and Iraq of torturing and killing children.

(nt)