G20 leaders plan next step against an IS assault
Putin, Cameron emphasise need for joint action against terrorism in wake of terror attacks
PRESSED for a strong response to the Islamic State (IS) group’s assault on Paris, the world’s top industrial and developing nations are set to outline their co-ordinated response to what President Barack Obama has described as an “attack on the civilised world”.
The leaders of the Group of 20 were wrapping up their two-day summit in Turkey yesterday against the backdrop of heavy French bombardment of the IS stronghold in Syria. The bombings marked a significant escalation of France’s role in the fight against the extremist group.
Many meetings about next steps in Syria and the IS campaign were being held on the sidelines of the summit at the Turkish seaside resort of Antalya.
Obama was to huddle with European leaders from France, Britain, Germany and Italy. French President Francois Hollande skipped the summit to stay home and deal with the aftermath of the attacks, but Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius planned to attend the meeting with the US president.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key player in ending the conflict in Syria that created a vacuum for IS, met separately with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Putin and Cameron emphasised the need for joint action against terrorism in the wake of the Paris terror attack.
“The latest tragic events in Paris show that we have to unite our efforts in fighting this evil, something we should have done a long time ago,” Putin said.
Putin launched an air campaign in Syria a month-and-half ago with IS as the top declared target. The US and its allies, however, have accused Moscow of focusing on other rebel groups in a bid to shore up Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad, whom the West sees as the main cause of the Syrian conflict and the chief obstacle to peace.
Before the G20, foreign ministers met in Vienna to discuss a new diplomatic plan to end the Syrian war. The plan appears to be based on a Russian proposal that envisions negotiations between Assad’s government and opposition groups starting by January 1.
Still, sharp differences over Assad’s future and disagreements about what militant groups in Syria should be considered terrorists have dampened hopes for a breakthrough.
The Vienna talks were high on the agenda when Obama and Putin met for about 35 minutes yesterday on the sidelines of the G20.
Obama appeared to take a softer tone with Putin, noting “the importance of Russia’s military efforts” aimed at IS, according to a White House readout of the meeting.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the leaders share similar “strategic goals” for defeating the IS extremists “but tactical differences remain”.
Obama met on Sunday with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, another key player in the effort to end the Syrian war. The Saudis have pushed strongly for the ouster of Assad and have funded his foes. Putin was set to have talks yesterday with the Saudi king, who is scheduled to visit Moscow soon.
Amid the diplomatic wrangling, the shock over the Paris attacks that killed at least 129 people raised the demand for quick action. The attacks in Paris, along with earlier bombings in Lebanon and Turkey, as well as the downing of a Russian airliner in Egypt, indicated that IS has grown bold enough to strike a variety of targets far away from its base in Syria and Iraq.
In Turkey, five police officers were injured on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up during a police raid on a suspected IS hideout near the Syrian border. Turkish security forces also rounded up 20 suspected IS militants in and around Antalya before the summit.
While US officials said Obama viewed the attacks in France as an act of war, they cautioned he had no plans to overhaul his strategy for dismantling IS and said he remained staunchly opposed to a US ground war in Syria. Instead, they foreshadowed an expansion of steps the US is taking, namely air strikes and train-and-equip missions for rebels inside Syria.
This year’s G20 agenda also included efforts to hasten global economic growth, with a focus on addressing the effects of China’s economic slowdown. In a draft of the final G20 communique, leaders renewed their goal to grow their collective GDP by
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2015 another 2 percent by 2018.
A group of G20 leaders continued discussions yesterday on some of the most pressing economic, financial and security issues, focusing on more actions to revive an anaemic global economic recovery, and to fight against global terrorism.
The summit came at a time when the world has been struggling to materialise a strong, sustainable and balanced growth.
Yet seven years after the global financial meltdown, there is still little sign that the world economy is on the right track back to strong recovery. Growth is not picking up, trade is weak, and investment is slowing.
Some experts cautioned that a recession is imminent. Early this month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development trimmed its forecast for global economic growth to 2.9 percent this year and 3.3 percent next year, down from the previous predictions of 3.0 percent and 3.6 percent. The International Monetary Fund has also made similar projections.
Late on Sunday, the leaders discussed how to better co-ordinate their actions to fight terrorism and handle the surging refugee crisis. G20 leaders condemned the “heinous” attacks in Paris and Ankara, and reaffirmed that “terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group”. – ANA
THE LATEST TRAGIC EVENTS IN PARIS SHOW THAT WE HAVE TO UNITE OUR EFFORTS IN FIGHTING THIS EVIL, SOMETHING WE SHOULD HAVE DONE LONG AGO