In a grieving Paris, US Secretary of State John Kerry said a “big transition” in Syria was probably only weeks away as he expressed solidarity with the French nation after IS gunmen and suicide bombers massacred 129 people in the capital on Friday night.
Advertisement
The plane crash and the weekend wave of terrorist attacks in Paris clearly have raised Russia’s determination to fight IS, although concern remains in the West that its Syria airstrikes are also targeting rebels who are opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad but not affiliated with radical groups.
Charlie Hebdo itself unveiled its tribute cover for the attacks depicting a dancing reveller, bottle and glass in hand, with champagne pouring out of holes in his body.
“They have weapons”, the caption reads, adding: “Screw them, we have champagne”. “The one who targets the Republic, the Republic will catch him, will be implacable”. “They need to be set out more clearly and more explanation given”.
The named mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, is now in Syria after being convicted in absentia in Brussels earlier this year of recruiting jihadists for Islamic State. Another room was rented by his brother in the Parisian suburb of Bobigny three days before the attack.
Hollande vowed to destroy IS in a rousing speech to a joint sitting of parliament on Monday, saying there would be “no respite and no truce”.
And it also forged an unexpected alliance with Russian Federation after both countries were targeted by deadly IS attacks.
In a televised war room meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Federal Security Service head Alexander Bortnikov said authorities had evidence that the Airbus A321 was downed by a homemade bomb, carrying the explosive equivalent of up to one kilogram of TNT.
The two leaders agreed on the need for political change in the country to be led and “owned” by Syrians themselves.
But the Prime Minister – who has so far held back from seeking parliamentary approval to extend RAF air strikes from Iraq into Syria – acknowledged that “a few extra bombs and missiles won’t transform the situation” and that a government with the confidence of all Syria’s ethnic and religious communities was needed to bring about peace.
“A very big gap” remains between Western powers and Russian Federation over the best way of resolving the crisis in Syria, but there are signs of a willingness to compromise on all sides, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
Advertisement
However regime and opposition representatives have yet to sit down together, and the nations involved can not agree on the role of Assad in any transition.
