BAGHDAD (AP) – French President Francois Hollande expressed his solidarity with Iraq on a visit to Baghdad on Friday, as his country prepares for possible airstrikes with a U.S.-led coalition against extremists who have seized territory around the region.
Hollande’s trip and a conference that Paris is hosting Monday on Iraq are the first steps in a long-term effort to bolster the new Iraqi government and weaken militants from the Islamic State group.
It’s also Hollande’s first visit to the country since the Islamic State fighters overrun large swaths of northern and western Iraq, along with the territory the militant group had already seized in Syria.
Hollande is expected to discuss possible French airstrikes with Iraqi authorities during his visit. France is likely to start strikes very soon in coordination with the United States – if the Iraqi government requests such action – but won’t send ground troops, a senior French official said Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity according to government policy.
At a press conference with Iraq’s President Fouad Massoum, Hollande said Friday that the Islamic State group is waging a war on “all people who do not share their vision or ideas.”