DHAKA: Ministers from 20 countries are to meet in Paris to discuss strategy against Islamic State (IS) militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will attend, but US Secretary of State John Kerry will miss the meeting because of a cycling accident.

The meeting comes after IS took the Iraqi city of Ramadi last month.

Iraq has become increasingly reliant on Shia volunteers to take on IS, raising fears over the possibility of worsening sectarian tensions.

With coalition air strikes against IS failing to have the impact many had hoped, talk is increasingly turning to Iraq’s political terrain, reports the BBC.

According to the report, the new role for Shia fighters - many backed by Iran - in Sunni areas is adding to what France has called ‘an especially fragile’ situation.

Ministers will discuss ‘lasting political solutions in order to resolve the Iraqi crisis,’ the French foreign ministry said.

The meeting comes a day after at least 45 Iraqi police officers were killed in an IS attack in Iraq’s Anbar province.

BDST: 1201 HRS, JUN 01, 2015
RR