China, Russia urge unified global front against terrorism

Syrian President says his country is ready to share intelligence with France, but only if Paris changed its policy toward Syria.

Russia and China have stepped up their campaign to form a unified international front to counter terrorism following the bloodbath in Paris and the downing of a Russian airliner in Egypt.

Liu Jieyi, China’s permanent representative to the UN, during a Security Council debate, exhorted “concerned parties” to form a “unified front” to defeat terrorism.

Mr. Liu was amplifying a Chinese position, which had been flagged by President Xi Jinping during a meeting of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey.

Xu Qiliang, Vice-Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, on a visit to Moscow, has underscored Beijing’s willingness to work with Moscow to protect “mutual interests and regional as well as world stability”, Xinhua reported.

Gen. Xu asserted that China “strongly condemns the inhuman actions of terrorists” in connection with the Russian A321 plane crash in Egypt on October 31.

Russian-French cooperation

The Russians have already energised their diplomacy to form a “unified front” by their bid to rope in France as a partner in the air campaign in Syria, which targets the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) – the alleged perpetrator of the Paris horror. The ISIS is also the prime suspect in the crash of the Russian passenger airliner.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already ordered Russian sailors, on board the cruiser Moskva, to establish a direct contact with a French aircraft carrier, following a telephone conversation with President Francois Hollande, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

The French task force in the Mediterranean, where the Moskva is already deployed, will be led by the nuclear powered aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle. The Kremlin press service reported that the Russian and French Presidents focused on building bilateral and multilateral cooperation to counter international terrorism following the terror strikes in Paris and the attack on the Russian plane. The Russian Foreign Ministry had earlier called for the finalisation of the draft UNSC resolution “on forming a broad anti-terrorist front”. Mr. Hollande is now set to meet President Putin in Moscow on November 26 — a move that is likely to focus on a joint anti-IS campaign.

French participation in coordination with Moscow, if it materialises, would mean the first NATO country joining the expansion of an anti-IS front in Syria, which has so far included Russia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanese Hezbollah and Syrian army troops.

Analysts say strengthening the anti-IS combine, with French support, would mean that the “regime change” policy pursued by the West in Syria since 2011 could be reaching yet another defining moment.

In Damascus, Syrian President said his country is ready to share intelligence with France, but only if Paris changed its policy toward Syria.