Obama to meet world military leaders over IS militant advances

President Obama to discuss strategy with military leaders to counter IS militantsMilitary leaders from the 22 countries in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group are to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington today.

They will discuss ways to halt the jihadist group's relentless advance in Iraq and Syria.

It is the first time such high-ranking military officials from so many countries have come together since the US-led coalition was formed in September.

President Obama will hash out a strategy to counter IS with military leaders including Turkey and Saudi Arabia amid growing pressure for the coalition to do more to stop the militants' advance.

President Obama will attend a meeting led by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with foreign defence chiefs at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington to discuss the coalition's work.

"It is part of ongoing efforts to build the coalition and integrate the capabilities of each country into the broader strategy," said Alistair Baskey, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

The strategy, however, is being called into question. Republican US Senator John McCain, a frequent Obama critic, said on Sunday that "they're winning and we're not," referring to IS militants.

The United Nations said yesterday that fighting in Iraq's western Anbar province had forced up to 180,000 people to flee after IS captured the city of Hit.

"This is a long campaign. It hasn't gone badly, but it certainly hasn't gone well," said Anthony Cordesman, national security analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Representatives from Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are expected to attend.

Colonel Ed Thomas, Mr Dempsey's spokesman, said no major policy decisions were expected at the meeting, adding: "It's about coming together in person to discuss the vision, the challenges, the way ahead."

Having Turkey at the table will be key as Ankara has come under some pressure to send its own ground troops into Syria against IS forces.

The country could announce after the meeting that it will join Saudi Arabia in training moderate Syrian rebels, Mr Cordesman said.

Turkey has not reached a new agreement to let the United States use its Incirlik air base in the fight against IS but reached an agreement with Washington on training Syrian rebels, sources at the Turkish prime minister's office told reporters yesterday, without saying who would train the insurgents or where.