Theresa May to call on Nato to join the war against ISIS and avenge Manchester bombing
The prime minister will tell the 28 nations’ leaders that 'the callous and cowardly' attack is proof they must all 'redouble our resolve' to fight terrorism
THERESA May will call on Nato to join the war against ISIS to avenge the Manchester terror attack.
The PM will issue the appeal at the annual Nato summit in Brussels.
She will tell the 28 nations’ leaders that “the callous and cowardly” bombing is proof they must all “redouble our resolve” to battle terror.
Germany and France signalled they will withdraw their opposition to committing the alliance to fighting ISIS, clearing leaders to potentially agree it.
The PM will tell the Nato summit: “Our unity in responding to common threats is our most potent weapon.
“We must redouble our resolve to meet the threats to our shared security, whether from terrorism or Russia.”
She will also urge a deeper effort to counter the spreading of jihadi recruiting online with a joint NATO cyber effort.
Mrs May will also repeat her demands in talks that she will lead in countering terrorism at a following two day summit of G7 leaders in Sicily, starting on Friday.
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But No10 announced the PM would cut short her trip to Italian summit because of the terror crisis, returning to Downing Street on Friday night instead of Saturday afternoon.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg backed Mrs May’s appeal, saying the alliance had to “step up and agree to do more in the fight against terrorism”.
The alliance’s support for the two year-long war is likely to come with training missions and AWACS surveillance jets instead of combat troops or war jets.
The Nato summit is also Donald Trump’s first since the US election in last November.
The US President has been bitterly critical of the alliance, for failing to spend enough on defence, but will be asked to unveil a memorial at its new HQ that will include girders from the World Trade Centre, destroyed in the 9/11 terror attacks.
Condolence calls from foreign leaders continue to pour into Downing Street.
The PM spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, India’s boss Narendra Modi and Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Every leader pledged solidarity with UK and offered help to close down the terror network responsible for the Manchester attack.