Kuwait- Global coalition to scale up combat against IS

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) ROME Feb 2 (KUNA) -- Foreign Ministers of the Small Group of the Global Coalition to counter the Islamic State (IS or ISIL/Da'esh) agreed late Tuesday to step up the effort to eliminate the militant group in Syria and Iraq.
Representatives of 23 coalition partners including Kuwait and the European Union wrapped up their third meeting with the adoption of a final statement affirming that the fight against the militant group gained momentum in the recent months.
The victories recently made by the Iraqi forces despite challenges signals the ability of the coalition to defeat the group and foil its plans to launch attacks against the coalition partners the statement noted citing the liberation last year of Tikrit Sinjar and Bayji.
"We have pushed ISIL/Da'esh out of approximately 40 percent of the populated territory it once controlled in Iraq. We have likewise continued our campaign in Syria assisting Syrian moderate opposition forces including with airstrikes with tangible results" the statement pointed out. "With the recent capture of Tishreen Dam and surrounding villages as well as areas to the south of al-Hawl important logistics routes for ISIL/ Da'esh into ar-Raqqah have been cut off complementing Iraqi offensives that have constrained ISIL/Da'esh supply lines and further isolated ar-Raqqah and Mosul. "We will intensify and accelerate the campaign against ISIL/Da'esh in Iraq and Syria act in concert to curb its global ambitions and take every measure to ensure the protection of our citizens. "We reaffirm our commitment to deliver a lasting defeat to this barbaric organization.
"Continued success requires that the Coalition expand its multifaceted approach one that goes beyond battle lines and seeks to deprive ISIL/Da'esh of oxygen on every possible front. We are determined to keep ISIL/Da'esh cut off from the international financial system; to disrupt its economic and financial infrastructure as well as its energy operations and to curtail its smuggling of antiquities.
"We will keep ISIL/Da'esh leadership under relentless threat and constrain its foreign terrorist fighter flows across borders. We shall also work to ensure that ISIL/Da'esh terrorists are held to account for the crimes that they have perpetrated. "We will use every available avenue to expose ISIL/Da'esh's delusional narrative - increasingly laid bare in the face of territorial loss horrific eye witness accounts of its barbarity and failure to fulfill its boasts of statehood.
"Syrian and Iraqi citizens who have fled the strife or have been expelled from their homes and now face uncertainty in places of refuge deserve the international community's full support in the form of adequate protection and humanitarian aid to cover their basic needs and longer term educational and development aid so as to offer them the prospect of a brighter future in their home countries and to make up for the opportunities denied to them.
"The members of the Coalition will make every effort to ensure that these growing humanitarian and development needs in places of refuge are met. Moreover any returns of such persons to their places of origin must be safe informed voluntary and non-discriminatory in line with international protection principles.
"Respecting international humanitarian law and supporting stabilization and restoration of essential services in areas liberated from ISIL/Da'esh are vital to allow displaced persons to return to their homes in safety and dignity and enable them to revive their communities in their places of origin. "Iraq's stabilization efforts with the cooperation of UNDP and local authorities and assistance from the Coalition have helped restore communities like Tikrit to new life and are poised to begin addressing immediate stabilization needs in Ramadi and other liberated areas.
"We welcome the generous contributions to the Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilization (FFIS) and call on the international community to ensure continued funding for this instrument.

"Recognizing the imperative of civil and military coordination and quickly establishing public security and the rule of law we will continue our support for Coalition efforts to train Iraqi police forces to hold and stabilize Da'esh-free areas" the conferees said in the statement. "Even as we mark this progress we are acutely aware of the ten million Iraqis and 17.8 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance now and we urge contributions to the USD 861 million UN appeal for Iraq the USD 8.98 billion appeal for Syria and support for the upcoming London conference to aid the Syrian people.
"We recognize that a lasting investment in inclusive governance and a sound political process is necessary to lay the foundation for sustained success against ISIL/Da'esh" according to the statement.
"We continue to support Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's government as it seeks to meet the needs and aspirations of all parts of Iraqi society address corruption decentralize some federal authorities empower local communities and reconcile ethnic and sectarian divisions in Iraq" the statement said.
"We give our full support to the Government of Iraq in its efforts to mobilize and equip local volunteer fighters to assist the liberation of their provinces. We also stress the need for all Iraqi forces to be under the Prime Minister's command and control.
"We are aware that ISIL/Da'esh poses a terrorist threat to our own homelands as demonstrated by its heinous and barbaric terrorist attacks in Turkey France and elsewhere while noting ISIL/Da'esh is losing both territory and credibility in Iraq and Syria. "Our determination to curb ISIL/ Da'esh's global ambitions and to protect our homelands and allies has spurred us to greater collaboration and information sharing in the international counterterrorism arena. "We are committed to further strengthening coordination and cooperation between our intelligence security and law-enforcement agencies in order to improve our preventive capacities.
"In this regard Coalition members are encouraged to act on the measures in the Hague Implementation Plan on Foreign Terrorist Fighters a practical action-oriented outcome of the joint Coalition and Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) Foreign Terrorist Fighters Working Group meeting in the Hague on 11 January 2016. "We also pledge to implement United Nations Security Council resolutions supporting action against ISIL/Da'esh including UNSCR 2253 passed 17 December 2015 which updates and strengthens the United Nations Security Council's ISIL/ Da'esh and al-Qaida sanctions regime makes it easier to designate those supporting ISIL/Da'esh and strengthens the UN implementation process" the statement went on. "We look forward to the next working level meeting of the Small Group of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL/Da'esh expected to take place in late Spring of 2016" it concluded.
The meeting co-chaired by Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and US Secretary of State John Kerry gathered 25 delegations from Australia Bahrain Belgium Canada Denmark Egypt European Union France Germany Iraq Italy Jordan Kuwait New Zealand the Netherlands Norway Qatar Saudi Arabia Spain Sweden Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom and United States with the United Nations observing. Kuwait was represented by Deputy Premier and Defense Minister Shiekh Khaled Jarrah Al-Sabah. (pickup previous) mn.gb