Nations chart future steps against Islamic State extremists

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

ROME (AP) — As the U.S. works on its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, members of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group met Monday to plot future steps against the extremist group.

The meeting came just a day after the U.S. launched airstrikes against Iran-backed militias near the Iraq-Syria border.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio were co-chairing the gathering of senior officials from the seven-year-old, 83-member bloc. Participants were taking stock of their current efforts to ensure the complete defeat of IS, whose remnants still pose a threat in Iraq and Syria and have shown signs of surging in parts of Africa.

Amid significant other international priorities, including taming the coronavirus pandemic and stepping up the fight against climate change, the coalition is hoping to stabilize areas liberated from IS, repatriate and hold foreign fighters accountable for their actions and combat extremist messaging.

Blinken and Di Maio urged representatives of the 77 other countries and five organizations that make up the coalition not to drop their guard despite the destruction of the extremist group’s hold over broad swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria.

“Daesh can still be a threat and attract support,” Di Maio said, referring the Islamic State by its Arabic acronym. He appealed for special attention to be paid to Africa, notably in the Sahel region, where IS is gaining traction and called for the coalition to create a special mechanism to deal with that threat.

Blinken noted that despite their defeat, IS elements in Iraq and Syria “still aspire to conduct large scale attacks.”

“Together, we must stay as committed to our stabilization goals as we did to our military campaign that resulted in victory on the battlefield,” he said.

Blinken announced a new U.S. contribution of $436 million to assist displaced people in Syria and surrounding countries and called for a new effort to repatriate and rehabilitate or prosecute some 10,000 IS fighters who remain imprisoned by the Syrian Defense Forces.

“This situation is simply untenable,” Blinken said. “It just can’t persist indefinitely.”

The meeting was the first the coalition has had at a senior level that has been held in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

In addition to the meeting on IS, foreign ministers of countries concerned with the broader conflict in Syria were to meet in Rome on Monday ahead of a critical vote at the United Nations on whether to maintain a humanitarian aid corridor from Turkey. Russia has resisted reauthorizing the channel amid stalled peace talks between the Syrian government and rebel groups.

Last week, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, said there were worrying signs that the Islamic State may be getting stronger in the country and called for a boost in cooperation to counter it. Pederson has also joined calls for new international talks on ending Syria’s civil war.

Since the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011, numerous high-level gatherings aimed at ending the fighting and guiding the country to a political transition have failed to have any lasting impact.

The U.N., U.S., Russia and many other countries support a December 2015 Security Council resolution endorsing a road map to peace in Syria that calls for a new constitution followed by U.N.-supervised elections.

SportsPlus

McNeese Sports

Cowboys rally for big win

Crime

Hitman will continue to serve life sentence in Fourth of July murder

Local News

Delta Airlines flight flips over on landing at Toronto’s Pearson Airport and 8 people are hurt

Local News

School Board looks to make up lost time due to snow days

Local News

Jennings councilman wants to change rules for hiring, firing attorney

life

Preserving history for future generations: Exhibit examinins role Black churches play in communities

Local News

Trump administration tries to bring back fired nuclear weapons workers in DOGE reversal

Crime

2/17: Calcasieu Parish Sheriff announces arrest list

life

Vote now for the People’s Choice Mardi Gras of SW La.

Local News

Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash

McNeese Sports

Showdown in Hammond

McNeese Sports

Diamond roundup: Cowboys fall, Cowgirls win

Local News

US eggs prices hit a record high of $4.95 and are likely to keep climbing

Local News

Several Louisiana public university athletic programs — including McNeese — face financial deficits

Local News

Getting back on par: The long and short of the National Golf Club of Louisiana

Local News

NASA sending DeRidder students’ experiment into stratosphere

Local News

Shady Lane man found unresponsive has died

McNeese Sports

Richards shoots Cowboys by UNO

McNeese Sports

Cowgirls end skid at UNO

McNeese Sports

Late power lifts Pokes

McNeese Sports

Record win for Landreneau

Jim Beam

Jim Beam column:Movie highlights injustice

Informer

The Informer: LC was almost the home of a US naval base

McNeese Sports

Roundup: Cowboys win opener, Cowgirls fall to Tennessee