French President Francois Hollande on Thursday refused to forge cooperation links with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to stem threats of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) fighters who controlled parts of northern Syria and Iraq.

"A broad coalition is needed but I want to be clear: Bashar al-Assad cannot be a partner in the fight against terrorism because he is the de-facto ally of jihadists. There is no possible choice between two barbarities ...," Hollande told a gathering of French Ambassadors.

On Monday, al-Assad's government expressed willingness to cooperate with international community to crack down Islamist fighters that seized many areas in Syria and Iraq, putting the security of the whole region at risk.

Looking to the situation in Iraq where ISIS offensive forced many civilians, mainly Christians to displace, Hollande stressed world powers' "support must be reinforced to preserve the unity of Iraq and allow each community to live in peace."

In this context, Hollande recalled his proposal to hold an international conference in Paris "to organize the coordination of international action against ISIS on humanitarian, security and military fronts."

Earlier this month, Paris delivered humanitarian aid to besieged civilians in northern Iraq and decided to provide Iraqi Kurds with needed weapons to quell Islamist insurgents. Enditem

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