John Kerry: anti-'IS' coalition 'can do better'

At a meeting of the members of the US-led coalition against the self-styled "Islamic State" (IS) terror group on Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry praised the gains made by more than 2,000 coalition airstrikes, and by Iraqi ground troops. More than 700 square kilometers (270 square miles) have been retaken from "IS" in Iraq, Kerry said, while admitting that the coalition "can do better" at hemming the militants' flow of funds and foreign fighters.

Kerry added that the struggle might be a long one, but said Iraq should not worry - it would be able to purchase the weaponry needed to finish the job. A large delivery of US-made M16 rifles would be arriving "very, very shortly," Kerry said.

The talks were held in London and attended by representatives from 21 countries for the purpose of discussing and planning the coalition's next step in the fight against the extremist Sunni militia.

Low oil prices hurting Baghdad

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi struck a less positive note speaking to the press after the meeting. Abadi told reporters that he feared falling oil prices were harming his country's ability to fight IS.

"Oil prices have dropped to about 40 percent of their level last year. Iraq's economy and budget relies 85 percent on oil and this has been disastrous for us," he said, suggesting that if Iraq could be allowed to defer payment for ammunition and weapons, this would certainly help. He also appealed to the coalition for more training and equipment for his troops.

"We don' want to see a reverse of our military victory due to our budget and fiscal problems," the Iraqi PM cautioned.

On Wednesday, Abadi had bemoaned a lack of support from the coalition on the ground, but on exiting Thursday's meeting he said that his call for help "didn't go unnoticed."

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond reassured Abadi that they had heard his concerns: "This campaign is not going to fail for want of some guns or some bullets in the hands of the Iraqi security forces."

The meeting came as the clocked ticked down on an ultimatum issued by IS to Japan. IS has threatened to kill two Japanese hostages over Tokyo's financial backing for the coalition, unless the government pay the same amount in ransom to the jihadis.

The day before, however, Kurdish forces claimed they had managed to strike a blow against the terrorists by cutting off the supply line between Mosul and their western strongholds and forcing them to retreat from 500 square kilometers (200 square miles).

es/msh (AP, Reuters)