It was Germany’s “duty to reflect” and to “act quickly”, Merkel said in Paris, after being urged by President Hollande to commit more resources, in the wake of the Paris attacks.
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“Let him turn himself in for his parents, for justice, for the families of victims, so that we can find out what happened”, Mohamed Abdeslam said.
IS “can’t be convinced with words, it must be fought with military means”, she added.
French President Francois Hollande is in the midst of a weeklong push for a stronger coalition against Islamic State militants after the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 and left hundreds injured.
Germany has so far pledged to raise its military engagement in Mali in a bid to support France in its antiterrorism activities in this west African country.
President Francois Hollande cited specific threats against French interests stemming from IS in Syria.
“France was struck to the bone by the horrific attacks by the IS but we know that this inhumane rage can hit us or other societies at any time too”, said Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen yesterday, announcing the support.
German officials say a more active role should not be hard to justify legally in light of multiple United Nations resolutions on Syria and France’s invocation of the European Union’s mutual assistance clause following the Paris attacks.
“I think this is a good proposal and tomorrow president Hollande will talk to us in greater detail about it. We would be ready to seriously consider the necessary measures for this”, Lavrov said in Moscow.
The German Luftwaffe (air force) would help by using their Tornado jets to gather intelligence on Isis and by offering French planes air-to-air refuelling, sources told Politico.eu.
Germany will back France in Syria and Iraq by deploying Tornado reconnaissance jets, frigate and refueling planes to fight the Islamic State.
Ms Merkel said her country will do everything it can to prevent similar attacks from occurring again.
Security in Paris remains at the highest level as world leaders assemble in the city for a climate summit that begins on 30 November.
Hollande will take his supplications for closer co-operation to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday.
Belgian authorities allegedly had a list of suspected jihadists including the “mastermind” of the Paris attacks and the two brothers who carried them out – a month before the massacre took place.
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Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said the raids had been created to foil an imminent attack in Brussels.
