US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande will meet here week to discuss the strategy against ISIS in the wake of last Friday’s attacks in Paris, the White House announced.
Hollande, who has called for a grand coalition to battle ISIS, is also slated to visit Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Hollande’s visit to Washington on November 24 will “underscore the friendship and solidarity between the United States and France, our oldest ally”.
Obama and Hollande will “consult and coordinate our efforts to assist France’s investigation into these attacks”, Earnest said, adding the discussions will focus on further cooperation as part of the 65-member counter-ISIS coalition, and reiterate the shared determination to confront the scourge of terrorism.
Meanwhile, two Paris-bound Air France flights that took off from Washington and los Angeles on Tuesday night were diverted because of bomb threats that eventually turned out to be hoax calls.
Air France Flight 55 from Washington to Paris was diverted to a Canadian airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia following a bomb threat call. A little earlier, the airline’s Flight 65 from los Angeles to Paris was diverted to Salt lake City after a similar bomb threat call.
Both flights were searched thoroughly and give the all-clear. It was not immediately clear if the same person had made both the anonymous calls. “It may be a hoax, as far as a bomb threat. But this is terrorism,” commented CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Gilliam.