French President Francois Hollande speaks during a media conference after an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015 (Photo: AP)
France and Egypt on Monday urged the UN Security Council to meet and mull fresh measures against Islamic State jihadists after militants posted a video showing the decapitation of 21 Coptic Christians.
French President Francois Hollande and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi spoke by telephone, highlighting "the importance that the Security Council meet and that the international community take new measures" against the spread of IS in Libya.
The Egyptian army announced in a statement on Monday morning it has conducted air strikes against Islamic State militias' targets in Libya, including training camps and arms depots.
On Sunday night, El-Sisi said he commissioned Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri to travel to New York in order to hold urgent talks with senior United Nations officials and members of the Security Council.
The minister, El-Sisi said, would "demand the international community live up to its responsibilities by taking necessary actions in line with the UN convention, and to declare that what is happening in Libya threatens international peace and security."
Short link: