- Title: France's Hollande meets Archbishop of Mosul in Paris
- Date: 24th November 2016
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS FOR AGENCY POOL) ELYSEE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE COURTYARD VARIOUS OF SYRIAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MOSUL, YOHANNA PETROS MOUCHE, WALKING INTO COURTYARD MOUCHE SHAKING HANDS WITH FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE / HOLLANDE SHAKING HANDS OF OFFICIALS / MOUCHE AND HOLLANDE WALKING UP STEPS OF ELYSEE AND POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS MOUCHE AND HOLLANDE SHAKING HANDS BEFORE ENTERING ELYSEE PALACE FRENCH FLAG HOLLANDE SPEAKING MOUCHE AND HOLLANDE DURING MEETING MOUCHE HOLLANDE AND MOUCHE SHAKING HANDS AS HE LEAVES THE ELYSEE PALACE FRENCH AND EUROPEAN FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (French) SYRIAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MOSUL, YOHANNA PETROS MOUCHE, SAYING: "Mosul until now, as you know, it's only the start. It's going to take a few months, we don't know, we hope that… I think ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) militarily is over. It no longer has a role. Afterwards, we have to work on the ISIS ideology which will perhaps still remain in Iraq. We need time to get rid of it." FRENCH FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (French) SYRIAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MOSUL, YOHANNA PETROS MOUCHE, SAYING: "For Daesh (Arabic acronym for Islamic State), militarily, I think it's over in Iraq." CAR CARRYING MOUCHE LEAVING COURTYARD
- Embargoed: 9th December 2016 13:16
- Keywords: Mosul Syria Iraq Yohanna Petros Mouche Francois Hollande France Elysee
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00159T0VGN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: French President Francois Hollande met with Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Yohanna Petros Mouche in Paris on Thursday (November 24).
Mosul, which once had a sizeable Christian population, is Islamic State's largest major city stronghold in Iraq. An offensive to capture the city from Islamic State started on October 17 with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition.
The Iraqi military estimates there are 5,000 to 6,000 insurgents there facing a 100,000-strong coalition of Iraqi government units, Kurdish peshmerga and Shi'ite militias.
The Sunni Muslim hardliners of Islamic State have targeted the adherents and religious sites of those minority groups across the area, which it seized in 2014 during a blitz across Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
At the time, the group issued an ultimatum to Christians: pay a tax, convert to Islam, or die by the sword. Most fled towards the autonomous Kurdish region.
Mouche told reporters after his meeting with Hollande that Islamic State was militarily finished in Iraq.
"Mosul until now, as you know, it's only the start. It's going to take a few months, we don't know, we hope that… I think ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) militarily is over. It no longer has a role. Afterwards, we have to work on the ISIS ideology which will perhaps still remain in Iraq. We need time to get rid of it," he said.
Mosul's capture is seen as crucial towards dismantling the caliphate, and Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to have withdrawn to a remote area near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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