France's Hollande heads to Russia to press anti-ISIS coalition

French President Francois Hollande walks to his office at the end of the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 25, 2015

French President Francois Hollande on Thursday will hold talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, as part of his diplomatic marathon to forge a broader coalition against ISIS in the wake of the Paris attacks.

The French president will meet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Paris in the morning, before heading to Moscow where he will hold talks with the Russian strongman.

Hollande has been on a whirlwind tour seeking to build a coalition to crush ISIS in Iraq and Syria but has seen few concrete pledges so far, and his campaign has been further complicated by a diplomatic spat between Russia and Turkey.

France invoked a clause requiring EU member states to provide military assistance after the November 13 attacks in Paris, when 130 people lost their lives in a wave of killings by suicide bombers and gunmen claimed by ISIS.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday pledged to stand beside France in its fight against the militant group after talks with Hollande, vowing to act "swiftly" to see how Germany can help in the fight against terrorism.

The French and German leaders each laid a pink rose among the tributes of flowers and candles in Place de la Republique, the Paris square that has become a rallying point since the bloodshed.

Hours earlier, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Germany would send 650 soldiers to Mali to provide some relief to French forces fighting militants there.

Meanwhile in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron will on Thursday set out the case for his country to extend its air strikes against ISIS from Iraq into Syria ahead of a vote by MPs next week.

The British premier has called ISIS a "direct threat to our security at home and abroad" and on Monday offered to let France use the RAF Akrotiri air base in Cyprus when flying missions against the militants.

Cameron met with Hollande earlier this week and has said he "firmly supported" France's actions, but US President Barack Obama has given the idea of greater cooperation with Russia against ISIS a much cooler reception.

Hollande's diplomatic efforts also suffered a blow after Turkey shot down a Russian jet, sparking a diplomatic incident between the rival powers fighting in Syria that has threatened to escalate into a wider conflict.

Turkey's military said Wednesday it did not know the warplane it shot down was Russian and it was ready for "all kinds of cooperation" with Russia, after Moscow called the incident a "planned provocation".

The sole surviving pilot said he had received no warning and the aircraft did not violate Turkish air space, prompting the Turkish army to release audio recordings it said showed the Russian jet was repeatedly warned to change course.

Moscow has intensified its strikes in Syria after ISIS claimed it brought down a Russian passenger plane over Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.

Russia carried out heavy raids in Syria's northern Latakia province on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said, in the same area where Turkey downed the Russian fighter.

Ankara and Moscow are on opposing sides in the four-year Syrian conflict, with Turkey wanting to see the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad while Russia is one of his last remaining allies.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has backed the French president's proposal to close off the Syria-Turkey border, considered the main crossing point for foreign fighters seeking to join ISIS.

"I think this is a good proposal and tomorrow President Hollande will talk to us in greater detail about it. We would be ready to seriously consider the necessary measures for this," Lavrov said in Moscow.

French jets on Monday launched their first air strikes from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls told the French parliament, which overwhelmingly supported pressing the air campaign against ISIS, that "there is no alternative, we must annihilate Daesh", speaking to the chamber on Wednesday.

One dead in shooting at #Copenhagen #Islam debate

Police presence is seen next to damaged glass at the site of a shooting in Copenhagen February 14, 2015

Unidentified gunmen killed at least one person and wounded three police officers after opening fire Saturday on a cultural centre in Copenhagen hosting a debate on Islam and free speech, police said.

France's ambassador to Denmark Francois Zimeray, who was attending the debate, was not hurt in the shooting which the French authorities called "a terrorist attack".

Danish police said they were hunting for two suspected assailants who fled the scene in a Volkswagen Polo. Security officials were seeking to track down the car through its licence number, they added.

Zimeray told AFP the attackers were seeking to replicate the January 7 assault by jihadists in Paris on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo that left 12 dead.

"They shot from the outside (and) had the same intention as Charlie Hebdo, only they didn't manage to get in," Zimeray said by telephone from the venue.

"Intuitively I would say there were at least 50 gunshots, and the police here are saying 200," he told AFP.

"Bullets went through the doors and everyone threw themselves to the floor. We managed to flee the room, and now we're staying inside because it's still dangerous. The attackers haven't been caught and they could very well still be in the neighbourhood."

Zimeray said earlier on Twitter that he was not harmed.

Reports said that Swedish artist Lars Vilks, the author of controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons published in 2007 that sparked worldwide protests, was also at the debate.

Charlie Hebdo raised the ire of Islamist extremists by republishing those and other caricatures, and later satirising Islam in later editions.

A Femen activist, Inna Shevshenko, said on Twitter that there were several dozen people in the room.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned what he called a "terrorist attack targeting a public meeting", saying in a statement that France "remains by the side of the Danish authorities and people in the fight against terrorism."

Vilks has been under police protection since his 2007 cartoons were published.

The French president's office said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was headed to the scene.

El #Sisi , #Hollande discuss combating #terrorism

Terrorism focus of talks with Egyptian and French presidents

French President Francois Hollande, right, poses with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi during a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014. Sissi is in France for a two-day official visit

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and French President Francois Hollande met on Wednesday to discuss challenges facing the Arab region and the threat of international terrorism.

On his first visit to Europe since he was elected president, El-Sisi discussed with his French counterpart the threat of terrorism both inside Egypt and from neighbouring countries.

The two presidents stressed at a press conference their concern over the growing threat of terrorism in Libya, with El-Sisi highlighting the need to support the Libyan government and army.

They also highlighted the importance of reaching a two state solution for Palestinians and Israelis through negotiations.

Hollande hailed El-Sisi's efforts in negotiations concerning the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Cairo hosted an international conference to rebuild Gaza in October during which $3 billion in aid was raised.

El-Sisi also added that the two politicians agreed that a political solution is needed to end the Syrian crisis.

Both France and Egypt are part of a US-led coalition which is launching airstrikes against Islamic State fighters. France took part in the strikes, while Egypt has not officially announced any participation but said it was committed to giving support to the alliance.

Speaking of bilateral relations, Hollande encouraged furthering cultural cooperation between the two countries. He said that France will be receiving more Egyptian students and academics.

Meanwhile, in terms of tourism, El-Sisi assured in a message to France and other European countries that Egypt is safe to visit.

El-Sisi started a European tour on Monday, first visiting Italy and the Vatican before he headed to France.

El-Sisi was elected president in June, almost a year after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.