Russia submits UN resolution on fighting IS

Russia put its new draft forward on Wednesday, about two months after a previous version was rejected by the United States, Britain and France over a provision that called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's particpation in efforts to defeat "Islamic State" (IS) extremists.

The new version contains a similar provision, though Russian UN representative Vitaly Churkin said this time he hoped world powers could reach a consensus.

According to Churkin, the resolution calls for greater coordination among different powers in fighting the extremists.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the removal of Assad from power as a precondition for uniting in the fight against IS was "unacceptable."

French resolution in the works

France said it's also planning to submit a draft resolution to the Council, as President Francois Hollande called for solidarity in the fight against extremists following the brutal terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday.

Hollande said he would study the Russian draft resolution carefully and consider incorporating elemements from it into the French draft.

The French president held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which the two leaders agreed to work together in battling IS, earlier this week.

Russia is also reeling from a recent terrorist attack claimed by the group, in which a Metrojet airliner carrying passengers en route from Egypt to St Petersburg was downed shortly after take-off, killing everyone on board. IS, which claims responsibility for the attack, released images on Tuesday of the bomb they said downed the plane.

blc/msh (AFP, dpa)