France Begins Spy Flights to Back US Iraq Air Campaign

Al-dhafra, United Arab Emirate: France has joined Britain in carrying out reconnaissance flights in support of the US air campaign against jihadists launched in Iraq early last month, the defence minister said on Monday.

France has a base in the United Arab Emirates where both fighter and surveillance aircraft are based, and Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian flew in as Paris prepared to host an international conference on a fightback against the Islamic State.

The jihadist group has seized swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria and just Saturday executed a third Western hostage, upping the pressure on the governments meeting in the French capital.