Paris---Iraq's allies Tuesday pledged support for Baghdad's plan to retake the city of Ramadi from Islamic State jihadists, whose advance Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi described as a "failure" for the global community.
The US-led coalition, which has been carrying out air strikes against IS, also called for the "speedy launch" of efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, which it said was crucial to tackle the group rampaging through Syria and Iraq.
But despite a series of battlefield wins by IS, the coalition maintained it had a "winning strategy" and gave its seal of approval to Iraqi plans to claw back territory at crunch talks in Paris.
US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, standing in for the hospitalised John Kerry in Paris, hailed Baghdad's strategy as "the right plan both politically and militarily for Iraq at this time".
He insisted the coalition had made "real gains" and said the Islamic State now had 25 percent less territory than when the air strikes began in August.
Experts, however, say the militant group nevertheless controls an area the size of Italy across Syria and Iraq.
Baghdad has been fighting to wrest back Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province Anbar, since the shock loss to IS last month -- the worst defeat for the coalition since it formed nearly a year ago.
Under the emergency plan adopted by Abadi's cabinet, Baghdad hopes to mobilise and arm the Sunni tribes of Anbar province, which they have previously been loath to do out of fears they could turn on the Shiite-led government.
Abadi also plans to ensure all Sunni and Shiite militias are operating under the government's authority, to avoid stoking sectarian tensions.
- 'The right strategy' -
The loss of Ramadi as well as the historic Syrian city of Palmyra days later raised questions about the effectiveness of the coalition's strategy.
But Blinken insisted: "In Iraq right now we have the right strategy, a combination of air strikes, training and effective global partners."
The rout of Iraqi security forces in Ramadi also led to a diplomatic spat as US Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said there was "an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight", in comments that deeply angered Baghdad and forced Washington to apologise.
Abadi himself called for more from his partners, saying most IS fighters were foreign and therefore an "international problem".
AFP
