Islamic State: John Kerry visits Egypt for coalition talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry will arrive in Egypt on

Saturday amid US attempts to form a broad coalition to tackle

Islamic State (IS) militants.

Mr Kerry will meet Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi in Cairo on

the latest leg of his Middle East tour.

He has enlisted the support of 10 Arab states so far, including

Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but on Friday he ruled out Iran joining

the US-led coalition.

On Friday, the CIA said IS has as many as 30,000 fighters in

Syria and Iraq.

IS controls large parts of both countries and its fighters have

become notorious for their brutality, but in recent weeks they

have been targeted by US air strikes.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama unveiled plans for an

expansion of the US campaign against IS.

He vowed to "hunt down terrorists who threaten our country,

wherever they are."

Shia militias have joined forces with the Iraqi army and

Kurdish fighters to try to fight back against IS

The 10 Arab countries to have signed up to the coalition are:

Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,

Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Later on Saturday, Mr Kerry will meet with Mr Arabi, the

Secretary General of the Arab League, to discuss how the

coalition will act against IS.

Mr Kerry says military and intelligence experts will spend the

coming days working out how each state will contribute.

But speaking in Turkey on Friday, he said it would be

"inappropriate" for Iran to join the group because of its

"engagement in Syria and elsewhere".

Iran has backed the government of President Bashar al-Assad

in Syria, while the US and several European and Gulf countries

have supported the rebel factions fighting to overthrow him.

Mr Kerry held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip

Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday in an

effort to secure more co-operation from the Turkish government

in the fight against IS.

Turkey has refused to allow the use of its air bases to launch

attacks on the jihadist group.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Irbil says one reason is that Turkey fears

for the lives of nearly 50 Turkish hostages held by the militants,

including staff from the consulate in Mosul.

Support from France

Meanwhile, France has offered its support for military action

against IS and said it will host international talks on the

campaign on Monday.

French President Francois Hollande visited Iraq's capital

Baghdad on Friday and held a joint press conference with Prime

Minister Haidar al-Abadi.

"I came here to Baghdad to state France's availability in

providing even more military assistance to Iraq," he told

reporters.

In recent months IS has expanded from its stronghold in eastern

Syria and seized control of more towns, cities, army bases and

weaponry in Iraq.

The US has already carried out more than 150 air strikes in

northern Iraq. It has also sent hundreds of military advisers to

assist Iraqi government and Kurdish forces, but has ruled out

sending ground troops.

Source : BBC