French President, Iraqi Prime Minister Discuss Joint Efforts To Combat Islamist Threat

French President, Iraqi Prime Minister Discuss Joint Efforts to Combat Islamist Threat

French President Emmanuel Macron has received Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in Paris to discuss the fight against Islamic radicalism and stress the importance of Iraq's sovereignty in counter-terrorism battle, following the recent deadly attack on a French teacher by a radicalized teenager

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2020) French President Emmanuel Macron has received Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in Paris to discuss the fight against Islamic radicalism and stress the importance of Iraq's sovereignty in counter-terrorism battle, following the recent deadly attack on a French teacher by a radicalized teenager.

French history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded on Friday night in outskirts of Paris by a 18-year-old Chechen teenager born in Moscow and identified as Abdullakh Anzorov. The attacker was chased down and shot dead by the police the same night. The killing came after 47-year-old Paty showed a cartoon depicting Islamic prophet Muhammad to his students. A probe was launched into the matter, which had also sparked mass protests across France condemning violence against educators.

"Fighting against Islamist terrorism means fighting the enemy at the root, in theaters of operations. It is also a guarantee of stability which is required by the sovereignty of Iraq. I received the Iraqi Prime Minister to take stock of the initiative undertaken together," Macron tweeted late on Monday.

Al-Kadhimi also expressed appreciation for Paris's support to the Iraqi government, which he formed in May after months of uncertainty. The previous cabinet was dissolved in November due to mass anti-governmental protests.

The visit of the Iraqi prime minister to France comes over a month after Macron's trip to Baghdad. On that visit, the French president expressed solidarity with Iraqi new authorities and said the two main threats Iraq was facing were the Islamic State (IS terrorist group, banned in Russia) militants and foreign interference in the nation's affairs. Notably, Macron was the first head of state to visit Iraq after the new government was created.

Al-Kadhimi said back then he aspired to intensify the already existing bilateral relations with Paris, as well as explore ways of cooperation to meet common interests of the two countries.