(AFP) The United States and its European allies clashed Thursday over what to do with thousands of jihadists jailed in Syria, with Washington calling a French proposal to try fighters in Iraq “irresponsible.”
Senior officials from more than 30 countries pledged greater coordination in the campaign against the Islamic State group in a meeting in Washington proposed by France, which has been particularly concerned by President Donald Trump’s decision last month to pull US troops from Syria.
Trump’s move allowed an incursion by Turkey aimed at destroying Kurdish guerrillas, who had led the fight against the Islamic State group and run jails for captured extremists in their effectively autonomous area in northern Syria.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed the Europeans on foreign fighters, telling them, “we’ll hold them to account.”
