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1st LD Writethru: Obama says U.S., France stand together against terrorism

Xinhua, November 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed his French counterpart Francois Hollande Tuesday, saying the U.S. stands "united" with France on counterterrorism.

"As Americans, we stand by our friends in good times and in bad, no matter what," Obama said during a joint news conference with Hollande at the White House.

He stressed the long friendship between France and the U.S. and said his country is ready to step up efforts to fight terrorism with its European partners.

The U.S. president called Islamic State(IS) a "barbaric terrorist group," adding that "its murderous ideology poses a serious threat to all of us." He said the militant group cannot be tolerated and must be destroyed.

"The United States and France stand united, in total solidarity, to deliver justice to these terrorists," Obama said.

Hollande's visit to the U.S. underscored the urgency on counterterrorism after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks by IS, which killed at least 130 people and injured hundreds of others.

"We cannot succumb to fear," Obama said after he discussed with Hollande on counter-IS efforts, "Make no mistake, we will win, and groups like ISIL will lose."

After Obama's comments, Hollande told reporters that France and the United States had agreed to step up a "joint response".

"Militarily, it is about destroying Daesh (IS) no matter where they are. It is about taking out their financing, hunting down their leaders, dismantling their networks and taking back the land they currently control," the French president said.

"We, therefore, decided, President Obama and myself, to scale up our strikes both in Syria and Iraq to broaden their scope, to strengthen our intelligence sharing regarding the targets we might aim at."

However, Hollande said France will not put troops on the ground in Syria to fight IS.

Hollande will also visit Russia on Thursday and meet with his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Both Obama and Hollande said they would welcome Russia's involvement in the fight -- if Moscow were to concentrate its military action on IS.

Hollande said he would bring that message to Moscow, adding "We do not want to exclude anyone." Endit