France’s Hollande urges U.S., Russia to form global anti-IS coalition

PanARMENIAN.Net - French President Francois Hollande called on the United States and Russia on Monday, November 16, to join a global coalition to destroy Islamic State following the attacks across Paris, and announced a wave of measures to combat terrorism in France, Reuters reports.

"France is at war," Hollande told a joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles, promising to increase funds for national security and strengthen anti-terrorism laws in response to the suicide bombings and shootings that killed 129.

"We're not engaged in a war of civilizations, because these assassins do not represent any. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which is threatening the whole world," he told a packed, somber chamber.

Hollande pledged that French fighter jets would intensify their assaults and said he would meet U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days to urge them to pool their resources.

"We must combine our forces to achieve a result that is already too late in coming," the president said.

Speaking in Turkey at the same time as Hollande, Obama called Friday's attacks a "terrible and sickening setback", but maintained that the U.S.-led coalition was making progress.

"Even as we grieve with our French friends ... we can't lose sight that there has been progress," Obama said at a Group of 20 summit, ruling out sending in ground troops.