John Kerry Arrives in Paris to Show ‘Shared Resolve’ After Attacks

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/europe/john-kerry-arrives-in-paris-for-talks-on-response-to-attacks.html

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PARIS — Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Paris on Monday evening, the first senior Obama administration official to visit France since the terrorist attacks on Friday shook the capital and prompted Western nations to re-evaluate their strategy for fighting the Islamic State.

Mr. Kerry planned to meet with French officials and United States Embassy staff members and their families. According to a schedule released by the French government, Mr. Kerry will meet with President François Hollande on Tuesday morning.

“He will reiterate America’s commitment to our strong relationship with France and express our condolences as well as our shared resolve to continue countering violent extremism here and around the world,” said John Kirby, the State Department spokesman.

Mr. Kerry’s trip was not announced in advance because of security concerns, and his staff barred reporters from revealing it until his plane had touched down in France.

Mr. Kerry went to Paris after a visit to Antalya, Turkey, for the Group of 20 summit meeting of major economic powers, which was dominated by high-level discussions about the future of the campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh.

Mr. Kerry has been pressing for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Syria, a prospect that may have been complicated by the attacks in Paris. France responded to the attacks with dozens of airstrikes Saturday in Raqqa, Syria, a center of Islamic State activity.

Mr. Kirby said that Mr. Kerry spoke by telephone on Monday with Khaled Khoja, the president of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, and that the secretary emphasized to Mr. Khoja that the Syrian opposition must come together to bring about a political transition.

The two men discussed the next steps in a plan to end the fighting in Syria, which was approved in Vienna on Saturday by top diplomats from more than a dozen countries. The plan calls for a cease-fire among the many warring factions and talks between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and its opponents.

Mr. Kirby said Mr. Kerry and Mr. Khoja agreed that Syria must “emerge from the civil war whole, unified, pluralistic and led by a government free of Assad and responsive to the needs of the Syrian people.”