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Britain’s Cameron sees United Nations resolution on Syria action as key moment

This resolution makes it much more likely that the Commons will approve military action against Islamic State in Syria.

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But the vote in support of France adds weight to his push to persuade Labour MPs to back British air strikes in Syria.

Meanwhile, Belgium has raised its terror alert in the Brussels region to the highest level, warning of a “very serious” and “imminent” threat.

British ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft said it was a “clear, unambiguous message that there will be no respite from our collective efforts to stop, suppress and destroy Isil”.

The Metrojet plane – which was flying the popular holiday resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh to St Petersburg – crashed in Sinai on October 31.

The Prime Minister said on Wednesday he will set out a “comprehensive strategy” for tackling IS and intensifying airstrikes in the country, adding that in the wake of the Paris attacks there was a “compelling case” for extending military action.

The resolution fell short of providing a legal basis for military action and did not invoke the chapter of the United Nations charter authorising the use of force.

He’ll hope the resolution will give the green light to a few sceptics on his own backbenches to vote for air strikes in due course, but more significantly it could provide cover for a significant number of Labour MPs to do the same.

The two leaders “are expected to focus on counter-terrorism cooperation and the fight against ISIL in Syria and Iraq”, a spokesperson for Cameron said in an e-mail Saturday, referring to Islamic State, or ISIS.

Cameron noted that apart from unanimously backing action against “this evil death cult in both Syria and Iraq”, the UN Security Council reiterated its determination to secure a political solution to the conflict in Syria.

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Sixty percent of the 1,061 people questioned for the survey supported British air strikes on Syria, 59 percent supported British ground troops fighting alongside allies in a ground war against IS and 68 percent of respondents supported the United Nations sending in ground troops against the group.

Cameron United Kingdom casualties expected in Paris