Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan were in Washington Wednesday with representatives from dozens of other countries to discuss the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – and what comes after.
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Donations made at the conference will also be aimed at preparing for a wave of refugees out of Mosul when the final offensive by coalition and Iraqi forces begins to retake the city from its Islamic State (ISIS) rulers. “We have some momentum, the discussion will be how to build on this momentum”.
British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said more must be done to ensure that residents will be able and willing to return to the Iraqi cities.
French defense minister Jean-Yves le Drian told AFP that the battle for Iraq and Mosul is also key for the future security of Europe’s cities.
The Australian commitment comes as 24 countries are set to meet in Washington DC on Wednesday night, Australian time, in an effort to raise a further $2 billion from worldwide donors towards bringing stability to the conflict ridden nation and to ensure access to shelter, food and clean water for displaced families.
The State Department official said some of the pledges that will be announced at the conference will total more than $100 million and that the U.S will make a substantial contribution itself.
The two days of meetings were called as jihadist attacks – some of them inspired or ordered by the IS group – are proliferating around the world.
They have recaptured the Qayyara air base south of Mosul, which USA military officials say will serve as a launch pad for offensive operations against the city. The money will go to humanitarian aid for displaced people, demining, immediate help to recently liberated communities and the people returning to them as well as medium-to long-term reconstruction and development assistance. “If we do not succeed in Iraq, none of our countries will be safer”.
“Today is the time” for “assisting Iraq in the post-liberation area”, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari pleaded in Washington Tuesday. They are expected to talk about the coordination of political and military efforts, including counter-terrorist financing, combating the flow of foreign fighters, and the stabilization of cities and towns that have been freed from Islamic State control.
The gathering comes on the heels of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Warsaw earlier this month, when allies agreed to boost support for the anti-Islamic State mission.
They will corner the militants in their bastions of Raqqa, in Syria, and Mosul, in Iraq, he added.
That will bring to 4,600 troops the USA military presence in Iraq five years after the United States’ 2011 military withdrawal.
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The coalition is also looking to reinforce the fight in Syria, where USA -backed forces are in a tough fight for the town of Manbij.
