John Kerry arrives in Paris for IS talks

London, Sep 14: US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday arrived in Paris after a four-day tour of the Middle East trying to build a coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS).

Nearly 40 countries, including 10 Arab states, have signed up to a US-led plan to tackle the extremist group, the BBC reported.

Kerry arrived at the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris after flying from Cairo, where he met Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi.

On Monday, French President Francois Hollande will welcome diplomats from up to 20 countries for a conference to discuss the security issues in Iraq.

However, the US refused Iran to attend, prompting Tehran to dismiss the talks as "just for show".

Last week, US President Barack Obama presented a strategy to fight the IS in both Iraq and Syria.

IS controls large parts of both countries and the CIA estimates that the group could have as many as 30,000 fighters in the region.

US air strikes have targeted the IS in Iraq in recent weeks and Obama has vowed to "hunt down" the group after it beheaded two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Late Saturday, another video was released appearing to show the beheading of a British hostage David Haines.

The violence in Iraq in the recent months has displaced an estimated 1.2 million people.

IANS