Secretary of State John Kerry met his French counterpart Thursday, as both countries weighed options
(26 Jun 2014) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 2009968 US Secretary of State John Kerry met his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, in Paris on Thursday, as both countries weighed options in Iraq amid a Sunni insurgency in the country, as well as new sanctions against Russia while pushing for peace in Ukraine. Fighters led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a Sunni extremist group, have seized large swathes of Iraq and seek to carve out a purist Islamic enclave across both sides of the Syria-Iraq border. US administration officials have said repeatedly that the only way to resolve the crisis is for Iraqi leaders to come together and form a truly inclusive and representative government in which all three of the country's main ethnic and religious groups Sunni, Shiite and Kurd have a voice. Kerry was also due to meet with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Israel and with the prime minister of Lebanon to try to ease their fears related to the growing conflict in Iraq and discuss how to coordinate a response to the crisis. In another sign of how critical the situation has become, Kerry was expected to fly to Saudi Arabia on Friday to hold similar talks with King Abdullah. Kerry's diplomatic trip in Europe came a day after American and Iraqi military officials confirmed that Syrian warplanes bombed Sunni militants' positions inside Iraq, deepening the concerns that the extremist insurgency spanning the two neighboring countries could morph into an even wider regional conflict. Kerry warned against the threat and said other nations should stay out. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
