Attacks heighten pressure at Vienna

Syria talks

AFP, VIENNA: Multiple attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State jihadists increased the pressure on some 20 countries and organisations meeting in Vienna on Saturday to overcome deep divisions and help end Syria’s civil war.
Witnesses said that the gunmen who killed almost
130 people in Friday’s wave of attacks shouted “Allahu
akbar” (“God is greatest”) and blamed French military action in Syria against Islamic State (IS) extremists.
Vowing no stop to French “international action”, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Vienna that the killings underlined the need to “increase the international coordination in the struggle against Daesh (IS).” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed, saying that the attacks were “no justification” to ease up on tackling radical jihadists such as IS and the Al-Nusra Front, affiliated to Al-Qaeda. And US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the attacks will “stiffen our resolve, all of us, to fight back.”
“If they’ve done anything they’ve encouraged us today to do even harder work to make progress and to help resolve the crises that we face,” he said. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the bloodbath added “another kind of meaning” to the gathering. “The countries sitting around the table have almost all experienced the same pain, the same terror,” she said, citing the recent Russian plane disaster in Egypt and suicide bombings in Beirut and Turkey. In almost five years, fighting between the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups as well as IS militants has killed over 250,000 people and forced millions into exile, leaving many of them stranded in neighbouring states.

 

Attacks heighten pressure at Vienna

Syria talks

AFP, VIENNA: Multiple attacks in Paris claimed by Islamic State jihadists increased the pressure on some 20 countries and organisations meeting in Vienna on Saturday to overcome deep divisions and help end Syrias civil war. Witnesses said that the gunmen who killed almost 130 people in Fridays wave of attacks shouted Allahu akbar (God is greatest) and blamed French military action in Syria against Islamic State (IS) extremists. Vowing no stop to French international action, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Vienna that the killings underlined the need to increase the international coordination in the struggle against Daesh (IS). Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed, saying that the attacks were no justification to ease up on tackling radical jihadists such as IS and the Al-Nusra Front, affiliated to Al-Qaeda. And US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the attacks will stiffen our resolve, all of us, to fight back. If theyve done anything theyve encouraged us today to do even harder work to make progress and to help resolve the crises that we face, he said. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the bloodbath added another kind of meaning to the gathering. The countries sitting around the table have almost all experienced the same pain, the same terror, she said, citing the recent Russian plane disaster in Egypt and suicide bombings in Beirut and Turkey. In almost five years, fighting between the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups as well as IS militants has killed over 250,000 people and forced millions into exile, leaving many of them stranded in neighbouring states.