G20 will pledge to redouble efforts to strike at the lifeblood of terrorist groups

Group of 20 leaders meeting in the Turkish

November 15, 2015, Reporter : BigNewsNet, Reader : 587

ANTALYA, Turkey - World leaders are expected to pledge to refocus efforts to strike at the lifeblood of terrorist organizations by targeting how they are financed and the recruitment of foreign extremists in the wake of the attack in Paris.

Group of 20 leaders meeting in the Turkish resort city of Antalya will call for better coordination and exchange of information to cut off funding and a more comprehensive approach on "addressing the conditions conducive to terrorism," according to a draft of the joint statement.

"We are concerned over the acute and growing flow of foreign terrorist fighters and the threat it poses for all states, including countries of origin, transit and destination," the draft of the G-20 statement says, according to two officials.

Leaders are due to discuss terrorism at length at a working dinner on Sunday in the resort city.

The two-day summit in Antalya comes after the killing of at least 129 people in Paris late Friday by suicide bombers and gunmen linked to ISIS, also known as Islamic State.

The tragedy has increased pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama, Russia's Vladimir Putin and other G-20 leaders to increase cooperation on countering the threat from militants.

The G-20 has traditionally been a forum for economic discussion, but "the skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks that took place in Paris," Obama said in televised remarks after meeting with the host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Obama said "the killing of innocent people based on a twisted ideology is an attack not just on France" but "on the civilized world," and pledged to help hunt down the perpetrators.

Putin echoes this sentiment, saying that "we have all seen the horror that took place recently in Paris and we sympathise with the affected people."

Russia is "always in favour of joining efforts to deal effectively with the terrorist threat," Putin added. "Of course it is necessary to act in strict accordance with the United Nations."

He went on to say that the ISIS militant group needs to be "annihilated".

The G-20 first addressed the threat of terrorism after the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. in 2001 with efforts to clamp down on terrorist financing.

It was omitted from last year's summit in Australia before dominating the agenda for Turkey.>BNN