Macron warns against dropping guard against IS terror

Baghdad: French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Saturday the IS group “remains a threat”, speaking days after an affiliate of the group claimed a deadly bombing in Kabul.

“We all know that we must not lower our guard, because Daesh (IS) remains a threat, and I know that the fight against these terrorist groups is a priority of your government,” Macron said, after a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhemi in Baghdad, where a summit of Middle East leaders begins at midday.

Organisers have been tight-lipped on the agenda of the summit in Baghdad, but the meeting also comes as Iraq, long a casualty of militancy, tries to establish itself as a mediator in the region.

Iraq and France “are key partners in the war against terrorism,” Kadhemi replied.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II are due at the summit, while the foreign ministers of regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia will also be present.

The Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, as well as Kuwait’s Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid al Sabah are also expected to attend. Iraq is seeking to play a “unifying role” to tackle crises shaking the region, sources close to Iraq’s Kadhemi have said.

Oil-rich Iraq has been caught for years in a delicate balancing act between its two main allies, Iran and the United States.

Iran exerts major clout in Iraq through allied armed groups within the Hashed al Shaabi, a powerful state-sponsored paramilitary network.

Baghdad has been brokering talks since April between US ally Riyadh and Tehran on mending ties severed in 2016.

Macron aims to highlight France’s role in the region and its determination to press the fight against terrorism, his office said.

The French president considers Iraq “essential” to stability in the troubled Middle East, it added.

An IS affiliate claimed Thursday’s suicide bombing in Kabul that killed scores of people, including 13 US service members. The attack has revived global concerns that the extremist organisation, which seized swathes of Syria and Iraq before being routed from both countries, is emerging anew, analysts said. — AFP