CAIRO/PARIS: Egypt and France on Monday urged the UN Security Council to meet and mull fresh measures against Islamic State (IS) jihadists after militants posted a video showing the decapitation of 21 Coptic Christians.
French President Francois Hollande and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke by telephone after the gruesome footage was released by the IS branch in Libya, prompting Egypt to launch air strikes on its western neighbour.
"The two heads of state discussed the situation in Libya and the spread of Daesh operations in the country," read a statement from the French presidency, using the Arabic name for the IS.
"They highlighted the importance that the Security Council meet and that the international community take new measures to face up to this danger."
The UN Security Council yesterday strongly condemned what it called the "heinous and cowardly apparent murder".
Meanwhile, Bahrain has deployed fighter jets to Jordan to support the US-led air campaign against the IS group, Jordan's information minister said yesterday.
The move comes a week after the United Arab Emirates deployed an F-16 squadron to Jordan to take part in the air strikes against the jihadists who control swathes of Iraq and Syria.
"This move highlights the brotherly ties between Jordan and Bahrain and comes in line with our belief in the importance of the war against terrorism," Information Minister Mohammad al-Momani said. AGENCIES