France, Britain to step up fight against IS

President Francois Hollande received strong backing from British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday as global efforts to crush Islamic State gathered speed in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Speaking before he also meets the US, Russian and German leaders in the coming days, Hollande said Britain and France had a "joint obligation" to strike at the jihadist group.

Cameron had earlier laid a wreath at the Bataclan concert hall where 90 people were killed on November 13.

The two leaders agreed to step up co-operation on countering international terrorism, including increased data-sharing and sharing of airline records, reports BBC.

"I firmly support the action President Hollande has taken to strike ISIL in Syria," Cameron said after talks in Paris, using another acronym for IS.

"It's my firm conviction that Britain should do so too," he added.

Cameron has said he will make his case to the British parliament in the coming days about joining air strikes on Syria, reports AFP.

While Britain has joined US-led coalition strikes on IS in Iraq, it has so far held back from hitting targets in Syria, where the jihadists also hold large swaths of territory.

The British leader also said he had offered France the use of a strategically located British airbase in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, to facilitate air strikes, and assistance with refuelling French jets.

Hollande, who has said France is in a "war" against the jihadists, is embarking on what could be a defining week of his three-year-old presidency.

The focus switches to Moscow on Thursday where he will meet President Vladimir Putin, who has pledged to work more closely with the West against IS following the Paris attacks and the downing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt last month.