Global outrage over Islamic State murder of journalist

EDGARTOWN, Massachusetts: US President Barack Obama called for a joint effort to eliminate the “cancer” of Islamic State (IS) terror in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, after IS militants murdered an American journalist.
Obama said the entire world was appalled by the beheading of 40-year-old reporter James Foley, which the IS fighters videotaped and published on the Internet.
Europe’s top powers also stepped up their response against the militants, while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a strong condemnation of the murder, describing it as an “abominable crime.”
“There has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so it does not spread. It has to be a clear rejection of these kind of nihilistic ideologies,” Obama said.
“One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century,” he said, using the acronym for the group when it was formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
He said the group speaks for no true religion, and threatens Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
“Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day,” Obama said.
He said he had spoken to the parents of Foley, a freelance reporter who contributed to GlobalPost, AFP and other outlets before being kidnapped two years ago, and “told them we are all heartbroken at their loss.”

“Caliphate of Barbarism”
In a statement, UN chief Ban said the “horrific murder” of Foley an abominable crime that underscores the campaign of terror of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant continues to wage against the people of Iraq and Syria,” his spokesman said.
Ban extended condolences to Foley’s family, friends and colleagues and said the perpetrators must be brought to justice.
France warned that the world faced the “most serious international situation” since 2001.
British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his holiday and rushed back to London, calling an urgent meeting to discuss how to deal with IS after the man filmed carrying out the execution had a British accent, prompting speculation he is a UK national.
In a highly significant move, Germany said it was ready to send weapons to support Iraqi Kurds in their battle against IS, while France pledged to hold a conference on the security of the region and the battle against the “barbaric” militants.
After other European nations said they would arm Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, “we are ready to do the same,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters.
Paris has already said it will dispatch arms to Kurdish fighters but sending weapons is unusual for Germany, which often shies away from foreign military engagements and as a rule does not export arms into live conflict zones, given its past aggression in two world wars.
Germany said it would first send more humanitarian aid and non-lethal equipment such as helmets, night-vision goggles and explosives detectors while it checked what weapons shipments would make sense, in coordination with EU partners.
French President Francois Hollande stressed the gravity of the crisis in Iraq, telling Le Monde daily in an interview: “I think we are in the most serious international situation since 2001” — the year of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
He said he would “soon propose to our partners a conference on security in Iraq and the fight against Islamic State.”
“We need a global strategy against this group which is well-structured, which is well-financed and has very sophisticated weapons, and which is threatening countries like Iraq, Syria and Lebanon,” he added.
At an emergency meeting on Friday, EU foreign ministers agreed in principle to back the arming of the overwhelmed Iraqi Kurdish fighters in the face of the IS onslaught.
Britain, a leading player in the 2003 invasion of Iraq that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, has said it would “favorably consider” arming the Kurds if they received such a request.
Later Wednesday, Italy also signalled it was ready to send arms including machine guns and anti-tank rockets to the Kurds fighting IS.
“The preparatory work is already under way and could be finalized in the coming days,” Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti told a joint meeting of the parliamentary commissions for defense and foreign affairs.