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President Hollande says France is at war, urges global fightback to crush ISIS

Paris: France President Francois Hollande is hoping to bring the United States and Russia together as part of a grand coalition dedicated to smashing the Islamic State group."France is at war," Hollande told a joint

India TV News Desk Updated on: November 17, 2015 12:54 IST
france is at war says president francois hollande
france is at war says president francois hollande

Paris: France President Francois Hollande is hoping to bring the United States and Russia together as part of a grand coalition dedicated to smashing the Islamic State group.

"France is at war," Hollande told a joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles.

He also vowed to destroy the Islamic State group after its atrocities in Paris, promising tough new anti-terror measures at home and intensified bombing of Syria.

"We're not engaged in a war of civilisations, because these assassins do not represent any. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which is threatening the whole world," he said.

Also Read: ISIS threatens to strike Washington in new video

A bill to extend the country's state of emergency for three months, he said, will be presented to Parliament on Wednesday. The state of emergency extends some police powers of search and arrest and limits public gatherings, among other changes.

Hollande further urged a global fightback to crush ISIS and said he would hold talks with his US and Russian counterparts on a new offensive.

"Friday's acts of war... were decided and planned in Syria, prepared and organised in Belgium (and) perpetrated on our soil with French complicity," Hollande told an extraordinary meeting of both Houses of Parliament in Versailles.

Also Read: Obama rules out US troops on the ground to fight ISIS

"The need to destroy Daesh (IS) ... concerns the entire international community," he told lawmakers, who burst into an emotional rendition of the Marseillaise national anthem after his speech.

"We will continue the strikes in the weeks to come ... There will be no respite and no truce," he said.

Meanwhile, describing the Islamic State as "the face of evil", US President Barack Obama has admitted that deadly attacks in Paris were a "terrible and sickening setback" in the fight against the dreaded outfit but ruled out sending American troops into Syria for ground combat.

In the same breath, he said not allowing Syrian refugees into the US would betray American values.

Obama said that US will continue working with other countries on a coordinated strategy to destroy the Islamic State without US combat troops.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility of the Friday's attacks in Paris which killed 129 people and injured 350 others.

"Not because our military could not march into Syria or Iraq and temporarily clear out ISIL, but because we would see a repetition of what we have seen before. If you do not have local populations that are committed to inclusive governance and who are pushing back against ideological extremes, then they resurface," he said.

Ruling out troops on ground as it would not help solve the terrorism problem, he said, "We have the right strategy and we are going to see it through".

Last week, series of terror attacks had rocked Paris, killing 129 people.

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