The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the execution of British aid worker David Haynes by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (IS) in a Monday statement. The ministry called the murder "a barbaric and brutal act totally contrary to the teachings of the Islamic religion", and stressed "the need for concerted and combined efforts of the international community in the fight against terrorism". David Haynes is the third westerner whose killing has been released on video by IS. The militant group swept to power in the wake of the current civil war in Syria, which the UN estimates has claimed over 200,000 lives. The civil war has also seen a revitalised insurgency in Iraq, which saw the Iraqi army fold and retreat before an ISIS offensive on the northern Iraqi city of Mosul during June. ISIS has declared itself a caliphate, ordering its subjects to operate under an extreme interpretation of Sharia law that has included kidnappings, mass executions, ethnic cleansing of religious minorities, forced marriage and sexual slavery. The group maintains control over swaths of Iraq and Syria. In the wake of the ISIS threat facing Iraq and Syria, Shoukry attended an international conference hosted by France on 15 September. Part of his efforts in attending the conference is to prop up the new Iraqi government of Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi. Another statement by the ministry regarding the conference said there was a need to "develop ways to support the new Iraqi government in regards to creating a cohesive national consensuses and combat terrorism". The conference comes after Shoukry's meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, during which the two discussed forming a US-led international coalition confronting the ISIS threat to the region. During Kerry's Saturday visit, he gave a speech saying: "The fact is that in today's globalised world, it's only a matter of time before the threat of terrorism anywhere becomes a threat of terrorism everywhere." US President Barack Obama announced the global coalition against the militant group and renewed support of the Iraqi government in a speech on 10 September. ISIS had released footage of the first two westerner executions, the beheadings of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Kerry continued that not only would combating ISIS include military support but also humanitarian aid. It would also include "addressing the illicit funding streams", and "stopping the flow of foreign fighters which all countries can become engaged in".
