French President Francois Hollande vowed on Monday to continue supporting Iraq in its fight against the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) terrorist group and to help in the reconstruction efforts of damaged cities.
“My visit to Iraq is to convey support and solidarity from France to the operation of liberating Mosul,” Hollande said during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
“France will actively participate in the reconstruction efforts in Mosul after defeating the ISIL there,” Hollande said.
Hollande added that recapturing Mosul was “a matter of weeks not years. The sooner the better.”
However, Hollande cautioned that efforts must then focus on Raqqa in Syria.
“What will happen in Iraq and Syria will affect the security situation in France and Europe,” Hollande said.
Regarding the return of terrorists to their origin country, Hollande said France will fight any French terrorist it locates in the battlefields of Iraq, pledging to arrest them if they return home and to work on de-radicalizing their children.
Abadi, for his part, hailed France’s participation in the anti-ISIL international coalition, asserting “the international coalition has no combative forces on the ground, and their role is only to support Iraqi forces.”
Abadi confirmed that Iraqi forces “are in the last stages of eliminating Daesh (the Arabic acronym for ISIL) from Iraq.”
“We hope it will be eradicated from the whole region,” the Iraqi leader said.
Hollande also met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Masoum, and the two discussed bilateral relations as well as the war against ISIL.
“We stressed in our talks on the need for French support to Iraq in the current stage, including training Iraqi forces, in addition to discussing a national reconciliation,” a statement issued by Masoum’s office quoted him as saying.
During his visit, Hollande also met with Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri, and the two discussed the fight against IS and the status of displaced persons.
“The victories of the Iraqi security forces came as a result of support from friendly countries,” Jubouri said. “We want the international community to exert efforts to relieve displaced persons through cooperating with the Iraqi government and international as well as local humanitarian organizations.”
Hollande, travelling with Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, flew into Arbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan, Monday afternoon.
France has around 500 troops fighting alongside the US-led coalition forces, the second largest contributor to the international coalition, in addition to providing Iraqi forces with military equipment and training.
This is Hollande’s second visit to Iraq as French president. He last visited Iraq in September 2014.
Hollande’s visit comes amid a major offensive by Iraqi security forces, backed by an international coalition, to drive ISIL terrorists out from their last major stronghold in Mosul.
Source: Websites
