Paris attacks: US and Russia unite on combating terror
The US and Russia have pledged to work towards a UN-brokered political transition in Syria.
The US and Russia have pledged to work towards a UN-brokered political transition in Syria, as the shock of the Paris terrorist attacks jolted world leaders to step up efforts to resolve the crisis.
The co-operation between the two most influential players in the Syrian war is a breakthrough after more than a year of frosty relations over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, including the shooting down of flight MH17, and disagreements over the future of Syria.
The move came as France made a defiant statement against Islamic State, which was responsible for the slaughter of at least 129 people in Paris, by sending 10 warplanes to drop 20 bombs on the terrorist group’s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa in Syria.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned last night that new terror attacks were being planned in France and in other European countries. “We know that operations were being prepared and are still being prepared, not only against France but other European countries too,” Mr Valls said.
As Paris continued to mourn those killed in the multiple attacks by suicide gunmen, world leaders at the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, focused on ways to defeat Islamic State and end the four-year civil war in Syria that spawned the terror group.
Putting aside differences, President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held an intense one-on-one discussion during which US officials said they agreed on the need for UN talks, a ceasefire and a transitional government in Syria.
Although Kremlin officials said there was a “divergence” on tactics, the meeting was a breakthrough because it was the first since Russia started unilaterally bombing extremist targets in Syria, angering the White House. “The conversation lasted approximately 35 minutes and centred around the ongoing efforts to resolve the conflict in Syria, an imperative made all the more urgent by the horrifying terrorist attacks in Paris,” a US official said.
It was unclear what the agreement on the need for political transition would mean for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who enjoys the support of Russia but not the US or other Western allies.
The US said it would step up the allied bombing campaign against Islamic State in the wake of the Paris attacks. “We’re confident that in the coming days and weeks, working with the French, we will be able to intensify our strikes against IS both in Syria and Iraq to make it clear there is no safe haven for these terrorists,” said US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes.
Mr Rhodes said the Paris attacks would not lead to large-scale US ground operations in Iraq or Syria. This was “not the way to deal with this challenge”, he said.
Malcolm Turnbull, who met Mr Obama on the sidelines of the G20, told world leaders of the need to work with Islamic leaders to tackle the threat of terrorism, declaring that “we must not demonise” the Muslim community in a shared fight.
Describing Islamic State as a “defamation of Islam” in his remarks to the G20 summit, Mr Turnbull told the closed-door meeting that community leaders could speak with authority on the problem in ways that political leaders could not.
Mr Turnbull said “not all extremism ends in violence but all violent extremism begins with extremist ideology”.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the renewed push to find a solution to the Syrian crisis, saying there was now a “rare moment” to find a diplomatic solution.
British leader David Cameron said the security of Europe depended on destroying Islamic State. “We need to keep making the case that we will be safer in the UK, in France and across Europe if we destroy this death cult once and for all,” Mr Cameron said.
The G20 leaders also agreed to step up efforts to prevent foreign fighters from travelling to Syria to join Islamic State. The plans include sharing more intelligence on suspects to halt potential terrorists at border checkpoints including airports. “We are concerned over the acute and growing flow of foreign terrorist fighters and the threat it poses for all states,” the leaders said.
The Paris attacks have heightened concerns about the way terrorists can travel to Europe and other regions, but disagreements between the major powers have previously hobbled measures to tighten the checks.
Australia has about 120 citizens fighting with Islamic State.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius defended the air strikes, saying his country needed to act quickly in the wake of the Paris attacks and that the attack on Raqqa had hit Islamic State “hard”. The bombs were reported to have struck a museum and a football stadium and knocked out electricity supplies to the city, which is the home of Islamic State leaders suspected of helping to organise the Paris attacks.
The hunt for the missing eighth gunmen in the Paris attacks intensified as it was revealed that the suspect, Belgium-born Salah Abdeslam, 26, slipped by French police after being questioned and released near the Belgian border soon after the attacks.
Police said two of his brothers were also involved in the plot, with one, Mohammed Abdeslam, having been arrested and the second, 31-year-old Ibrahim Abdeslam, having died in the Paris attacks.
At least 150 raids were reported to have taken place across France yesterday, including the southern city of Toulouse, as investigators close in on the transnational terror ring which they believe has links with Syria and Belgium and with homegrown radicals in France.
Twelve people were arrested in the raids, with reports a rocket launcher was seized in Lyon.
Seven people were arrested in Belgium as speculation grew that the country was the planning base for the attack.
Authorities believe three jihadist cells carried out a co-ordinated assault in which suicide gunmen attacked bars and restaurants and a football stadium, as well as the Balaclan concert hall, where 89 people died.
A Syrian passport found near the body of one of the gunmen was issued to Ahmad al-Mohammad, a 25-year-old refugee from Syria who had arrived in France last month via Croatia.
Additional reporting: David Crowe
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