AFP, Baghdad :
French President Francois Hollande pledged “support and solidarity” for Iraq’s new government during a visit to Baghdad on Friday, as global efforts to defeat jihadist fighters intensified.
It was the highest-profile visit to Iraq since militants led by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group overran large parts of the country in June and sparked international concern over an expanding jihadist threat.
Hollande touched down hours after Washington secured the support of 10 Arab states to help stamp out IS, which the CIA said Thursday had up to around 30,000 fighters on the ground in Iraq and Syria.
The United States began a campaign of air strikes in Iraq after pulling its troops out of the country in 2011, and President Barack Obama vowed this week to expand operations, while the Pentagon announced that combat aircraft would soon start flying out of a base in the country’s north.
Obama is seeking to build a broad coalition to defeat IS, which has declared a “caliphate” straddling Iraq and Syria, attacked religious minorities, posted videos of gruesome beheadings on the Internet and even vowed to take the fight to the West.
France has said it is prepared to take part in air strikes against the militants in Iraq “if necessary”, and hosts an international conference on Iraq on Monday.
“It is an honour to be the first head of state here since this government was formed,” Hollande said after meeting Iraqi President Fuad Masum, assuring him “of France’s support and solidarity”.
