Iraq President urges quick action against IS at Paris Conference

Paris: The leaders of France and Iraq on Monday urged swift action against Islamic State militants, with President Francois Hollande warning there was "no time to lose" as he opened an international conference to shore up an anti-jihadist coalition.

Iraqi President Fuad Masum also stressed the urgency of firm action, as the beheading of a third Western hostage in the run-up to the conference stepped up the pressure on the international community to destroy the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

"They need to act quickly because if there is a delay, if this campaign and this support for Iraq is delayed, maybe Daesh will occupy other territories and their threat will be even bigger," said Masum, using an alternative name for IS.

"We are still asking for regular aerial operations against terrorist sites. We have to pursue them wherever they are. We need to dry up their sources of finance," added the Iraqi leader.

"The fight of the Iraqis against terrorism is our fight as well," Hollande told representatives from around 30 countries and organisations, urging "clear, loyal and strong" global support for Iraq.

France announced just hours ahead of the conference that it was joining Britain in carrying out reconnaissance flights in support of the US air campaign against the jihadists.

"This very morning, the first reconnaissance flights will be carried out in agreement with the Iraqi and Emirati authorities," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told French troops, including pilots, at the Al-Dhafra base in the United Arab Emirates.

Shortly afterwards, two French Rafale fighter jets took off from the base, an AFP correspondent reported.

All bases covered

During the conference, US Secretary of State John Kerry will seek to fine-tune the strategy of the US-led coalition against IS, following a marathon tour through the Middle East to drum up support.

He told CBS's Face the Nation that "all bases were covered" in the coalition with some allies offering air strikes and others boots on the ground.

He stressed however that "we are not looking for that at this moment anyway."

"Every single aspect of the president's strategy, and what is needed to be done in order to accomplish our goal, has been offered by one country or multiple countries, and all bases are covered," Kerry said.

US President Barack Obama has set out a strategy to defeat IS that would include air strikes in Syria and expanded operations in Iraq, where US aircraft have carried out more than 160 strikes since early August.

The US leader also foresees training "moderate" Syrian rebels to take on IS and to reconstitute the Iraqi army, parts of which fled an IS blitzkrieg across northern and western Iraq.

Opposition forces would do the fighting on the ground in Syria, augmented by US and allied air support, he said.

Washington would not coordinate air attacks with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, but would ensure their forces do not come into conflict.

Hollande said that the international community "needs to find a durable solution in the place where the (IS) movement was born. In Syria."

"The chaos is benefiting the terrorists. We therefore need to support those who can negotiate and make the required compromises to secure the future of Syria," said Hollande.

"They are the forces of the democratic opposition. They need to be backed by all means," added the president.

The coalition received a boost when Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott pledged to deploy 600 troops to the United Arab Emirates, a regional Washington ally.

Ten Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, are among the countries backing the coalition.

Speaking in Paris, a US official said the number of countries signing on was "going up almost every hour," from Europe and the Middle East right across to Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Embodiment of evil

The gruesome beheading of British aid worker David Haines has increased the urgency of the Paris talks, as Prime Minister David Cameron vowed on the eve of the conference that Britain will hunt down those responsible for the aid worker's murder, describing them as the "embodiment of evil".

Haines was the third Western hostage to be beheaded by the militants in less than a month. IS released a video Saturday showing his killing and issued a death threat against another British captive, Alan Henning.

Obama offered US support for its "ally in grief", after two Americans were killed by the jihadists, while the UN Security Council condemned the "heinous and cowardly murder."

Haines, 44, who was taken hostage in Syria last year, had previously been shown alive in the video of US journalist Steven Sotloff's killing.

His attacker -- apparently the same man speaking in a British accent as in the videos showing the killing of the US hostages -- told Britain the alliance with the US will "accelerate your destruction" and will drag the British people into "another bloody and unwinnable war".