FMs in anti-Daesh coalition to meet in Washington

Foreign ministers from the US-led coalition against Daesh will meet in Washington on November 14 to weigh how to bolster the fight against the jihadist group after the killing of its leader in a US raid, a senior State Department official said, reports Reuters.

About 30-40 ministers and organisations that are part of the wider coalition will convene on the initiative of France and backed by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, aiming to boost the coalition’s presence in northeast Syria, the official said.

“This is something President Trump has been working on both to get troops on the ground, airplanes in the air and money flowing to stabilization in that area from partners and allies who are in the coalition,” said the official, who spoke to reporters on Monday on the condition of anonymity.

READ: Trump tells Europe to ‘have fun’ catching Daesh citizens again

Trump said on Sunday that Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had died “whimpering and crying” in the US special forces raid in northwestern Syria, fulfilling his top national security goal.

World leaders welcomed Baghdadi’s death but said the campaign against Daesh, a group that perpetrated atrocities in the name of a fanatical version of Islam, was not over, with so-called “lone wolves” likely to seek revenge.

The long-elusive Baghdadi, who had led Islamic State since 2010, killed himself by detonating a suicide vest after fleeing into a dead-end tunnel as US forces closed in, Trump said in a televised address from the White House.

Which county has the fate of Syria in it’s hand? – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]