Top officials from around the world, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, met in Paris Monday to fine-tune their strategy against ISIS militants, with emotions running high after the beheading of a third Western hostage.
Just hours before the conference began, France announced it was joining Britain in carrying out reconnaissance flights in support of the U.S. 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.
And Iraqi President Fouad Massoum called ahead of the conference for a "quick" aerial campaign.
"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," he told French radio, using an alternative name for ISIS.
The gruesome beheading of British aid worker David Haines has increased the urgency of the Paris talks, as Kerry seeks to shore up participation in the U.S.-led coalition that aims to destroy ISIS.
Prime Minister David Cameron vowed on the eve of the conference that Britain would 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. ISIS released a video Saturday showing his killing and issued a death threat against another British captive, Alan Henning.
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