Manama - Arab Today
The fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a world war that needs collective and firm international actions to prevail in it, said the Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari Saturday.
The fight against ISIL is a true world war even it was not labelled so explicitly, Al-Jaafari said at the 10th IISS Manama Dialogue for regional security, which kicked off here Friday.
He pointed out that Iraq is leading the war against ISIL but it needs world support of every kind, especially the military and humanitarian ones.
He underlined that countering ISIL terrorism requires a firm stance from the international community.
The international community must condemn ISIL's brutality with actions as it did with the Nazis, he said.
He argued that one of the main dangers of ISIL and its likes is the spread of their ideas to brainwash and recruit Muslim youth from across the world. He added that the second danger is the extraordinary brutality of this militant extremist group which indiscriminately executes people who differ with it.
ISIL has nothing to do with religions, he said, stressing that Islam promotes tolerance.
Meanwhile, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drain said that the whole world is concerned with the fight against ISIL and the international community would not give up its role in countering the terrorist groups and offering support to the Iraqi government.
He noted that the international support to the Iraqi government has forced ISIL back, but it is still not enough to eradicate it and dry up its financial and political resources.
Le Drain said that ISIL has more than 30,000 fighters who came from different parts of the world including 370 from France.
He disclosed that France offers help to non-jihadi Syrian opposition groups, which aim to retain Syrian territorial integrity.
The victory in the war on terror would not be achieved without collective action, he concluded.
Organized annually, the IISS Manama Dialogue provides a forum for the national security establishments of the participating states to exchange views on regional security challenges.
It is a unique forum in that it is made up of governmental delegations from over 20 countries, including not only the states of the region and the immediate neighborhood, but also the outside powers with security interests in the Gulf.
Source: KUNA