France offered Wednesday to take part in airstrikes against extremist fighters in Iraq if needed but insisted on a more careful tack for Syria, according to Reuters.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for international mobilization against militants from the Islamic State group, which he called "this transnational danger that could reach all the way to our soil," Reuters reported.
The French gesture came before President Barack Obama is expected to outline Washington's plans for fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, according to Reuters.
France, which has pushed for action against militants in Iraq and Syria, has said it would join a U.S.-led coalition but has been cautious about what role it would play, Reuters reported.
The French president and foreign minister are going to Iraq on Friday, and France is hosting an international conference Monday on Iraq, according to Reuters.
"We will participate, if necessary, in military air action" in Iraq, Fabius said, according to a text provided by the French Foreign Ministry, Reuters reported. He stressed that Iraq had asked for help, and France is already sending arms to Kurdish authorities to fight the militants.
A decade ago France famously and vigorously opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, arguing for diplomacy, according to Reuters.
French officials say the militaristic stance on Iraq today is justified because the Iraqi state wants help, and Islamic State militants are not a government that can be negotiated with, Reuters reported. France would continue to support Syrian opposition forces fighting both Assad and the extremists.
Hundreds of French radicals have joined the fighters in Syria and Iraq, and French authorities fear they will come home with violent skills and stage attacks at home, according to Reuters. Fabius insisted that France wouldn't send troops on the ground to Iraq, however, and would take a different tactic in Syria because President Bashar Assad "cannot be a partner."
