World

LONDON — Britain's opposition Labour Party said on Monday its lawmakers could vote according to their consciences on air strikes against militants in Syria, a move that may give Prime Minister David Cameron the parliamentary majority he needs.

Cameron believes it is time to join other Western powers in bombing the Daesh terror group, saying Britain could not subcontract its security to other countries after the militant group claimed responsibility for killing 130 people in Paris this month.

But he must persuade some sceptical members in his own ruling Conservative Party and others in Labour, which is deeply divided on the subject after its leader, veteran anti-war campaigner, Jeremy Corbyn said he was opposed to the strikes.

By allowing the so-called 'free vote' — breaking with a tradition for party leaders to instruct lawmakers on how to vote on major decisions, Corbyn has moved to quell a rebellion in Labour, which had threatened to engulf his two-month leadership.

"Today's Shadow Cabinet agreed to back Jeremy Corbyn's recommendation of a free vote on the government's proposal to authorise UK bombing in Syria," the Labour Party said, referring to leading lawmakers who shadow the government's portfolios.

It said they were also backing Corbyn's call for the government to allow a two-day debate on launching air strikes, much longer than usual because it was "such a crucial decision".

A senior Labour source said Corbyn would argue that Cameron had yet to meet the conditions set out by Labour at its annual conference earlier this year, including the provision of "clear and unambiguous" United Nations support for air strikes.

"There will be a majority of Labour MPs [lawmakers] who will vote against this, even under free vote conditions. If he [Cameron] was looking for... consensus behind the backing for this war, he certainly is not going to get it," the source said.

Earlier, the party said three-quarters of its members opposed bombing in Syria, according to a sample of responses the party received over the weekend.

While many in Labour fear more air strikes will bring more instability to the region, some of the party's leading members said they could not vote against them, arguing they were necessary to ensure Britain's security.

The source said senior Labour lawmakers, including foreign affairs spokesman Hilary Benn, would be able to argue the case for military action, and against their party leader, without being forced to resign as would usually be the case.

Cameron hopes to build a majority to avoid a repeat of the damaging defeat parliament handed him in 2013, when it voted against launching air strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

PARIS — Protesters linked hands near the heart of the Paris terror attacks Sunday but others clashed with police, giving an emotional jolt to world leaders flying into the French capital to try to save Earth from climate catastrophe.

As hundreds of thousands of people joined protests worldwide, the human chain aimed to send a highly symbolic message to leaders on the eve of the official opening of a 195-nation UN climate summit in Paris.

French authorities cancelled two climate demonstrations in the City of Light after gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people on November 13 for security reasons.

Though the Paris protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, a small band of anti-capitalist militants clashed with riot police in the late afternoon leading to the arrests of about 100 people.

Instead of marching, many activists left thousands of pairs of shoes — weighing more than four tonnes according to organisers — on Place de la Republique Square. A pair of running shoes was left by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, and Pope Francis sent shoes to be placed on his behalf.

In the first organised demonstration in the French capital since the attacks, climate protesters of all ages lined the wind-blown streets to link up in a 2-kilometre human chain.

"Hear our voices! We are here!" they chanted.

"There was a lot of solemnity, dignity on the pavements. There was a powerful current that passed between people's hands," said Genevieve Azam, spokeswoman for organising group Attac.

"It was a pleasure to be able to lift the lid that has weighed on French people since the attacks." 

Protesters left a 100-metre gap in the human chain outside the Bataclan concert hall, the site where gunmen killed 90 people, as a mark of respect to the victims. 

Hours later, though, riot police fired teargas at protesters who pelted them with bottles and candles in Place de la Republique and chanted "State of emergency, police state", referring to the post-attack protest restrictions.

Around 100 people were arrested after the clashes, according to police.

Some 150 leaders, including US President Barack Obama, China's Xi Jinping, India's Narendra Modi and Russia's Vladimir Putin, will attend the official start Monday of the UN conference tasked with reaching the first truly universal climate pact.

About 2,800 police and soldiers will secure the site of the November 30-December 11 conference, and 6,300 others will deploy in Paris. 

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said nearly 1,000 people thought to pose security risks had been denied entry into France, which has reimposed border controls since November 13 to protect the summit.

The goal of the climate talks is to limit average global warming to no more than 2oC, over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change. 

Rallies demanding curbs on carbon pollution have been growing around the world since Friday, with marches involving tens of thousands across Australia Sunday kickstarting a final day of people-powered protest. 

In London, where thousands of people rallied, Oscar-winner Emma Thompson called on world leaders to grab the "historic" opportunity to reach a deal.

"I went to the Arctic with my daughter last year and saw for myself the degradation of the environment there and it made me and helped me understand in a much more visceral real way what was happening to the planet," Thompson told AFP. 

More than 325,000 people across 175 countries were involved in the rallies, according to a preliminary estimate by Greenpeace, one of the organisers.

"People have taken to the streets to demand that we change the way we power our world," Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said.

Religious leaders in Paris also delivered petitions to the UN summit organisers with almost 1.8 million signatures demanding immediate climate action. 

BRUSSELS — Turkey will help stem the flow of migrants to Europe in return for cash, visas and renewed talks on joining the EU in a deal struck on Sunday that the Turkish prime minister called a "new beginning" for the uneasy neighbours.

Leaders of the 28 European Union states met Turkish Premier Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels on Sunday evening to give their collective political blessing to an agreement hammered out by diplomats over the past few weeks.

A spokesman for summit chairman, Donald Tusk, the European Council president, said a joint statement had been agreed. He gave no details but a draft seen earlier in the day by Reuters was in line with proposals discussed in the past few days.

A key element is 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in EU aid for the 2.2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, intended to raise living standards and so persuade more to stay put rather than attempt the perilous crossing to the Greek islands and the EU.

Also on offer to Ankara, which has driven a hard bargain but also wants to revive relations with its European neighbours as it faces trouble in the Middle East and from Russia, is a "re-energised" negotiating process on Turkish membership of the EU — even if few on either side expect it to join soon.

And many Turks could also benefit from visa-free travel to Europe's Schengen zone within a year if Turkey meets conditions on tightening its borders in the east to Asian migrants and moves other benchmarks on reducing departures to Europe.

"Today is a historic day in our accession process to the EU," Davutoglu told reporters on arrival. "I am grateful to all European leaders for this new beginning."

Aware of a sense of desperation in Europe for a solution to a crisis that has called into question its own cohesion and the future of its Schengen passport-free travel zone, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has driven a hard bargain.

Diplomats said the 28 EU governments had struggled through Saturday to agree a final offer.

The deal involves Turkish help, including through naval patrols and border checks, in handling the flow of migrants to the EU, expected to reach 1.5 million people this year alone, and the EU offering cash and restarting talks on EU accession.

"Both sides will ... with immediate effect, step up their active cooperation on migrants..., preventing travel to Turkey and the EU, ensuring... readmission provisions and swiftly returning migrants who are not in need of international protection to their countries of origin," read a draft of the agreement, seen by Reuters earlier on Sunday.

Tusk stressed that the meeting was primarily about migration rather than improving Turkish ties, which have been strained in recent years as Erdogan has used a powerful electoral mandate to consolidate his power. Critics say he has abused the rights of opponents, media and minority Kurds.

"Our main goal is to stem the flow of migrants to Europe," Tusk said.

The Europeans, none more so than German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are under pressure to manage the biggest influx of people since World War II, the bulk of them to Germany. The crisis has helped populist opponents and set nations against each other, straining the open borders of the EU.

"We will agree on the EU Turkey action plan today," Merkel said on arrival. "One main part of this EU-Turkey action plan will be how we can replace illegal migration by legal migration, how we can improve the situation of refugees within Turkey."

Measures the EU has taken have done little to control migrant movements. While winter weather may lower the numbers for a few months, it is also worsening the plight of tens of thousands stuck by closing borders in the Balkans.

Sunday's summit, called just days ago as Brussels tried to clinch a deal offered over a month ago, has been complicated by Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.

That has complicated European efforts to re-engage with Moscow, despite a continued frost over Ukraine, in order to try to advance a peace in Syria that could end the flight of refugees and contain Daesh.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said tension between Ankara and Moscow over the downing of the warplane were of "enormous concern" and the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the incident should not affect the prospect of finding a political deal on Syria.

Daesh’s attack on Paris on November 13 has heightened public calls in the EU for more controls on people arriving from Syria.

WASHINGTON — Expressing what has become regularly repeated frustration on the issue, President Barack Obama said on Saturday the United States needs to "do something" to make it harder for criminals to get guns after a shooting in Colorado killed three people and injured nine.

"We have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them. Period," Obama said in a statement. "Enough is enough."

In Friday's shooting, an assailant opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic, a centre that provides health services including abortions, in Colorado Springs.

It was the latest in a long series of US mass shootings during Obama's seven years in office. He has called the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, his toughest day as president.

Obama said it was too soon to know the Colorado Springs shooter's "so-called motive" but said the tragedy was more evidence pointing to the need to reform firearms laws.

"This is not normal," said Obama, who has become increasingly forthright in urging gun control measures when he makes statements after such events. "We can't let it become normal."

Obama tried to tighten up gun laws after the Newtown shootings, but met resistance in the US Congress, including from some of his fellow Democrats, and failed to push a measure through.

After another deadly shooting at an Oregon community college last month, Obama said White House lawyers would pore through existing laws to look for new ways he could use his executive powers to enforce regulations.

One of those options would require more gun dealers to get a license to sell guns, which would lead to more background checks on buyers.

The White House had drafted a proposal on that issue in 2013, but was concerned it could be challenged in court. Administration officials are now hopeful they can find a way to advance the plan.

Obama has also pledged to elevate the issue of gun laws during his remaining time in office, and has denounced lawmakers for bowing to pressure from the powerful National Rifle Association lobby group.

On Saturday, he said Americans could not "offer up our thoughts and prayers" for the families of the dead police officer and of the two other victims of the shooting "with a truly clean conscience" unless they also pushed for changes to make it harder to get guns.

"May God bless Officer Garrett Swasey and the Americans he tried to save — and may he grant the rest of us the courage to do the same thing," Obama said.

CHAPLINKA, Ukraine — Five days after saboteurs blew up power lines in southern Ukraine plunging Russian-annexed Crimea into an energy crisis, all four damaged pylons are out of action and engineers say they need a political decision to restore supplies.

The stalemate has left some 2 million Crimeans reliant upon emergency generators and has caused severe disruption, exposing how dependent Crimea remains on Ukraine a year and a half after it broke away to join Russia.

Some limited repair work has taken place, say Ukrainian government and energy officials, who have spoken of how the problem could — technically — be fixed relatively swiftly.

But on Friday the damaged pylons lay flat in thick mud as the wind whipped across the flat featureless landscape.

"If our high-level leadership takes a political decision to restore power or not to do so — and there is no such decision — we will do everything really quickly," said Ihor Bosko, a regional energy official. "We are sitting and waiting."

So far, ethnic Tatar activists and Ukrainian nationalists have blocked repair teams. The authorities have let the activists remain in place and protesters say they won't budge until Russia meets a series of political demands.

Tatars, a Muslim people with a long history of habitation in Crimea, accuse the peninsula's new Kremlin-backed authorities of oppressing them, allegations officials deny.

A Reuters reporter saw three Ukrainian tanks and two armoured personnel carriers headed to the border with Crimea on Friday afternoon, but it was unclear what their purpose was.

Russia, which has accused Ukraine of "torturing" Crimeans with the power cuts, has responded by cutting coal deliveries to Ukraine.

A Ukrainian lawmaker close to the circle of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk on Tuesday said the Crimean blackout had been orchestrated with the tacit consent of Kiev.

It was, he said, meant as a political signal to Moscow.

The Ukrainian government rejected that assertion, dismissing the charge it was not taking action to fix the problem as groundless.

A government spokeswoman on Friday declined to comment when asked whether Ukraine was deliberately not repairing the lines.

Muddy field

Visits to the site of the destroyed power facilities by Reuters on Thursday and Friday suggests little activity.

In a muddy field, a reporter saw that only partial repair work had been carried out on one of the four pylons. Four young activists blocking repair work huddled in a tent nearby. Nor was there any sign of police or repair teams.

Ukrainian energy utility Ukrenergo held talks with the activists on Friday.

Yuri Kasich, the firm's first deputy head, told Reuters the company was worried about the situation.

"The lines on the ground are putting strain on other pylons so Ukrenergo is interested in fixing the lines so that the pylons are upright and the lines taut," he said.

But when asked whether the activists would now allow engineers to start work, he suggested there had been no progress.

"As far as I know a group is working in Kiev and a political decision will be taken there," he said.

The activists, though few in number and apparently unarmed, appear determined.

One of the activists, a 20-year-old Tatar who gave his name as Khan, said he was from the Crimean capital Simferopol.

"My relatives told me they are ready to wait for as long as it takes and to sit without light, to live by candlelight, and to eat grass so that Crimea can be returned to Ukraine," he said.

"The Ukrainian authorities are absolutely with us, but they cannot say so openly. Perhaps they are afraid. We will stay here until victory. Until the hostages and political prisoners are released there won't be any electricity."

Izet Gdanov, a senior Tatar activist who has been helping enforce a road blockade of Crimea for the last two months, said the activists had specific demands for Russia, such as releasing individuals they regard as political prisoners.

"There are demands which also concern Crimean and Ukrainian mass media and observers being allowed in," he said, saying activists had received letters from ordinary Ukrainians urging them to keep Crimea without power to remind the world about the peninsula's occupation.

"When we started our blockade of Crimea all state organs actively supported us," he said. "The authorities understand what we are doing and let us get on with it."

NAIROBI — Pope Francis held his first open-air mass in Africa on Thursday with huge crowds hailing heavy rains as "God's blessing" as they sung and danced in the Kenyan capital.

Thousands of people queued through the night braving torrential downpours to take part in the historic mass, the first celebrated by Francis on African soil.

The 78-year-old pontiff received a tumultuous welcome as he arrived in an open-topped Popemobile, smiling and waving as worshippers cheered, ululated and raised their hands in the air.

At least 200,000 people crammed into the park at the University of Nairobi, Kenyan media said, in the Pope's first major public appearance on a six-day trip which will also take him to Uganda and Central African Republic.

"It is beautiful," beamed a nun called Sister Rachel. "We all sat through the rain and were not worried."

"This is a very important moment in my life because I've never had the chance of attending a papal mass," said another pilgrim called Paul Ndivangu who arrived three hours before dawn after travelling 200 kilometres from the northern town of Nyeri.

But the numbers fell far short of the million people Catholic officials had expected to attend the service, with the weather likely keeping many away.
A Swahili blessing 

In some places, so many people tried to enter the grounds that security forces were overwhelmed and could be seen using sticks to beat people back as they surged through the gates, an AFP correspondent said.

As the rain fell, a sea of brightly coloured umbrellas popped up, stretching as far as the eye could see, some in the white and gold of the Vatican flag.

Throughout the mass, punctuated by bouts of joyful singing and dancing, there were prayers in Swahili, the national language, as well as in other local dialects such as Maasai, Borana and Turkana. 

Over his traditional white robes, the Pope wore a garment embroidered with Maasai-style beading specially made for him by a group of tailors living in Kangemi slum which he will visit on Friday.

And when he ended his address with a few words in Swahili — "God bless you, God bless Kenya" — it drew thunderous applause.

"He encouraged us as families, as a nation and as different tribes and religions to work together and build our foundation on the rock which is God," said Peter Gachui, a local businessman who described the Pope's address as "marvellous". 

"I will remember that all my life."

Speaking just days before the start of a key UN climate conference in the French capital, the Pope delivered a powerful message, warning about the "grave environmental crisis" facing the planet. 

"In a few days an important meeting on climate change will be held in Paris... It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects," he said ahead of the summit beginning on November 30. 

"We are confronted with a choice which cannot be ignored: either to improve or to destroy the environment," he said in an address at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme.

The pontiff also called for global action against the illegal trafficking of blood diamonds, ivory and other natural resources, warning it fuelled political instability and "terrorism".

Earlier, as he met with leaders of different faiths, Francis also spoke out against the radicalisation of young people and "barbarous attacks" carried out in the name of religion.

"All too often, young people are being radicalised in the name of religion to sow discord and fear, and to tear at the very fabric of our societies," the Pope said nearly two weeks after young militants, many of them French, killed 130 people in a gun and suicide attacks in Paris.

Kenya has suffered numerous attacks since sending its army into neighbouring Somalia in 2011 after a string of kidnappings it blamed on Al Qaeda's East Africa branch, Al Shabab.

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics has also urged Kenya's leaders to work with "integrity and transparency" and to battle inequality in comments alluding to the corruption and inequality that blights the country. 

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday it was time to join air strikes against the Daesh terror group in Syria because Britain cannot "subcontract its security to other countries".

Many Britons are wary of entering into another war in the Middle East after Western intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya failed to bring stability to the region and some believe led to the rise of militants groups such as Daesh.

But after Daesh claimed responsibility for killing 130 people in Paris, some members of parliament who were reluctant to launch further military action in the Middle East now feel it is needed to protect Britain from such attacks.

Cameron lost a vote on air strikes against Syrian President Assad's forces in 2013 and must persuade some wary members of his own Conservative Party and in the opposition Labour Party to back him if he is to win parliament's support for military action.

After setting out his case, Cameron appeared to have persuaded at least two of 30 party "rebels" who voted against him in 2013, and his foreign minister, Philip Hammond, said the government was "building a consensus now for military action".

"We do not have the luxury of being able to wait until the Syrian conflict is resolved before tackling ISIL [Daesh]," Cameron wrote in a response to parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, which had said a policy to extend air strikes was "incoherent" without a strategy to defeat the militants.

"It is wrong for the United Kingdom to sub-contract its security to other countries, and to expect the aircrews of other nations to carry the burdens and the risks of striking ISIL [Daesh] in Syria to stop terrorism here in Britain," he added.

He said in the 24-page response that the campaign against Islamic State was entering a new phase, focusing on command and control, supply lines and financial support — something that suited Britain's capabilities.

Fearful of losing standing on the world stage, Cameron said Britain should respond to requests from allies, including the United States, but said he would not put a vote to parliament unless there was a majority backing action.

He said he did not want to hand Daesh a "propaganda coup" by losing a vote.

The government has not set a timetable for any vote but Cameron said earlier this week parliament would be able to consider his case over the weekend, prompting many to expect he could push for a vote as early as next week.

Changing views

Cameron told some lawmakers, who fear joining the air strikes over Syria would make Britain more of a target, that with the threat to the country already as high as it could be, the only way of reducing it would be to "degrade" Daesh.

British politicians are keenly aware of public opinion over whether to launch air strikes on Syria. A poll by YouGov this week said 59 per cent of people would approve of such strikes, compared with 58 per cent a week earlier.

After Cameron's statement, the Conservative chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Crispin Blunt, said he now believed parliament should support the prime minister's judgement "that the United Kingdom should play a full role in the coalition".

Another Conservative lawmaker, Sarah Wollaston, said she had changed her mind and was now in favour of air strikes.

But others, in Labour and the Scottish National Party, were less convinced, saying the prime minister had yet to present a clear peace plan for Syria after the military campaign. Others feared that air strikes would pave the way for sending in ground troops, which Cameron denied.

Cameron is hoping to find some support among Labour lawmakers, who are deeply split over their new leader Jeremy Corbyn's anti-war stance.

Breaking with a British political tradition of using a "party whip" to maintain parliamentary discipline, Corbyn's finance spokesman said Labour was considering allowing its lawmakers to vote as they wish.

"In these sort of issues of conscience it is better to allow MPs to make their own minds up," John McDonnell told BBC television.

KIEV — Tensions between Moscow and Kiev ratched up further Wednesday, as Ukraine decided to stop buying gas from Russia and closed its airspace to its giant eastern neighbour's airlines.

The two measures not only underscore the acrimonious nature of the former Soviet countries' relations but also highlight how difficult one of Europe's deadliest crises since the Balkans Wars of the 1990s may be to resolve.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a televised cabinet meeting that the flight ban was justified because "Russia might use Ukrainian airspace to stage provocations".

"This is an issue of our country's national security — a response to the Russian Federation and its aggressive actions."

Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Moscow of orchestrating and supporting the pro-Russian revolt in the east to avenge last year's ouster of Kiev's Kremlin-backed president and the new government's decision to align itself with the West.

Kiev on October 25 barred most Russian airlines from flying into Ukraine — a decision that prompted immediate reciprocal measures by Moscow.

But President Petro Poroshenko's government had at the time allowed Russian airlines to cross Ukrainian airspace to other destinations.

Yatsenyuk said the new decision came "in part as result of the escalation of the military and geopolitical situation".

A shaky Ukrainian truce is being increasingly put to the test as Russia steps up its air campaign in support of President Bashar Assad in Syria.

The Ukrainian military said another soldier was killed in a new bout of clashes across the shattered war zone in the past 24 hours.

The army also said it had imposed a unilateral ceasefire as of midnight in a bid to calm the violence.

But Ukrainian soldiers "will not watch calmly if the enemy decides to attack our positions", the Ukrainian military's General Staff said in a statement.

"In case their lives are in danger, our servicemen — as previously — have the right to open fire."

Some analysts and politicians in Kiev accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of using the world's focus on his campaign in Syria as cover for launching a new phase in the Ukrainian war.

Russia denies all involvement in a conflict that has killed more than 8,000 people and plunged Moscow's relations with the West to a post-Cold War low.

Moscow has banned the import of most Western food products in response to sanctions imposed over its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine last year.

It has also restricted imports of many Ukrainian goods and is threatening a complete embargo on food imports from its neighbour to the west should Kiev joined a planned free trade alliance with the European Union on January 1.

Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom had earlier Wednesday said it would stop shipping fuel supplies to Ukraine because Kiev had failed to make the required pre-payments on time.

Gazprom boss Alexei Miller said Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz had used up all the gas it had paid for and "no new upfront payment has been made".

The disruption is the second of its kind this year. Ukraine had already gone a full summer without making any purchases of Russian gas.

Putin waded further into the dispute by pointing the finger of blame at the authorities in Ukraine for the ongoing power disruptions in Crimea.

Nearly 2 million people in the strategic Black Sea peninsula have been without electricity — almost all of it supplied by Ukraine — since the weekend after its four main pylons were blown up.

The disruption came during attempts by Crimea's ethnic minority Tatars and Ukrainian nationalists to blockade the region and prompt its forced return to the mainland.

No one has claimed formal responsibility for the Crimean power outage.

KABUL — A deadly air strike on a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital was "caused primarily by human error", the US commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday, promising disciplinary action as he detailed a US investigation into the catastrophic attack.

The October 3 air raid on the French charity's hospital during a Taliban offensive in the northern city of Kunduz killed at least 30 people, sparked an avalanche of global condemnation and forced the facility to close.

The "tragic but avoidable accident [was] caused primarily by human error", General John Campbell told reporters at NATO headquarters in Kabul, adding those most closely associated with the incident had been suspended from their duties.

He blamed in part fatigue of US troops who had been battling a Taliban offensive in Kunduz for five days, adding that the mistake was "compounded by process and equipment failures". 

The Special Operations AC-130 gunship aircraft hit the hospital instead of a nearby Afghan intelligence compound that was thought to have been commandeered by Taliban fighters during their brief capture of the northern provincial capital, he said.

"The medical facility was misidentified as a target by US personnel who believed they were striking a different building several hundred metres away where there were reports of combatants," Campbell said.

Those who requested and executed the strike "did not undertake appropriate measures to verify that the facility was a legitimate military target", he said.

Some of those involved in the attacks failed to follow the rules of engagement, Brigadier General Wilson Shoffner said at the same news conference. 

MSF has called for an independent international investigation, saying the attack could be determined to be a "war crime". 

Despite repeated questioning on the matter, Shoffner refused to say if there would be an additional international independent investigation.

"We believe the investigation completed was full and impartial, and we stand by the findings and recommendations, and we support the process by which it was conducted," he said.

29 minutes 

The strike began at 2:08am local time, Campbell said, and at 2:20am MSF phoned the US military to report they were under attack.

"It took the headquarters and the US special operations commander until 2:37am to realise the fatal mistake. At that time, the AC-130 had already ceased firing. The strike lasted for approximately 29 minutes," he added.

Electronic systems on board the gunship had malfunctioned, he said, cutting off much of its communications, and the aircraft had diverted from its path believing it had been targeted by a missile, degrading the accuracy of "certain target systems".

This meant that when the crew entered the coordinates they were directed to an open field some 300 metres from the intended target. "The investigating officer found that the air crew visually located the closest, largest building near the open field which we now know was the MSF trauma centre," Campbell said.

The hospital appeared similar to the description provided of the intended target, and at night the crew was "unable to identify any signs of the hospital's protected status".

"We have learned from this terrible incident," said Campbell. 

"We will also take administrative and disciplinary action through a process that is fair and thorough [and] considers the available evidence."

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani welcomed the results of the investigation in a statement, saying the strike was a "painful demonstration of the cost of war".

Contrasting accounts 

The timeline given by Campbell in parts differed from MSF's own account of the attack, which the charity has said lasted for around an hour.

In an internal review released earlier this month, MSF detailed frantic efforts by its staff to reach US and NATO officials to halt the strike.

According to that report, by 2.37am when Campbell said US officials had realised the mistake, four phone calls had been made by MSF representatives in Kabul and New York to NATO, the Red Cross, a UN military liaison, and the US defence department.

The calls continued after Campbell said the gunship had stopped firing, with one message at 2.56am "insisting that the airstrikes stop and informing that we suspected heavy casualties", according to the MSF account.

In the initial days after the attack the US military offered a series of shifting explanations before President Barack Obama admitted in a call to MSF chief Joanne Liu that it had been a mistake and apologised.

A NATO statement released hours after the attack did not confirm the hospital was targeted, characterising it instead as "collateral damage" as Afghan forces came under fire.

The next day the US confirmed the hospital was hit directly but did not offer further details. 

Later General Campbell suggested that Afghan forces had called in the strike, before offering a fourth account in four days admitting US special forces had been in touch with the aircraft.

NATO and the Afghan army are conducting their own investigations. 

On Tuesday, MSF released short biographies of 14 staff members who died in the attack, including doctors, nurses, cleaners and guards. They were described as dedicated to their work and their country. 

WASHINGTON — France and the United States pledged Tuesday to step up the fight against the Daesh terror group, urging Russia to throw its weight behind global efforts to resolve the four-year Syrian conflict.

President Francois Hollande met his US counterpart Barack Obama at the White House as Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane dealt a severe blow to efforts to coordinate the fight against Daesh.

Speaking 11 days after militants killed 130 people in the French capital, Hollande urged an "implacable" joint response to crush the group in Syria and Iraq.

At a joint press conference, Obama pledged America's full support in the wake of the November 13 carnage, switching into Hollande's language to tell him, "We are all French." 

"We are here to declare that the United States and France stand united in total solidarity to deliver justice to terrorists and those who sent them, and to defend our nations," Obama said.

"Americans will not be terrorised," he said.

Washington and Paris have both stepped up their fight against Daesh in Syria, with France launching its first strikes from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean on Monday and the US calling for more international cooperation against the extremist group.

Hollande said he and Obama had agreed to “scale up our strikes both in Syria and in Iraq to broaden our scope to strengthen our intelligence sharing regarding the targets”.

Both said they would boost support for forces battling Daesh on the ground — while both continuing to rule out any ground intervention.

“France will not intervene militarily on the ground,” Hollande said. “It is for the local forces to do so.”

Influence on Assad 

The leaders’ talks in Washington came as Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane at the Syrian border threatened to dramatically fan tensions in the volatile region.

The most serious incident involving Russian forces since they entered the conflict in support of President Bashar Assad — the downing drew a furious response from President Vladimir Putin who accused NATO-member Turkey of “a stab in the back”.

Obama and Hollande joined UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in warning against any escalation.

“I think it is very important for us to right now make sure that both the Russians and the Turks are talking to each other and find out exactly what happened, and take measures to discourage any kind of escalation,” Obama told reporters.

The US military has backed up Turkey’s claim that Turkish pilots warned the Russian jet 10 times — but failed to get a response — before shooting it down.

Obama said NATO ally Turkey had a right to defend its airspace — but he also appealed to Russia to engage at the side of the 65 countries battling to repel Daesh in Syria.

“Given Russia’s military capabilities and the influence they have on the Assad regime, them cooperating would be enormously helpful in bringing about resolution of the civil war in Syria,” Obama said.

“If and when they do, it will make it easier for us to go after ISIL [Daesh],” he said.

 Shuttle diplomacy 

Hollande was in Washington as part of a frantic week of shuttle diplomacy as he tries to rally global support for increased strikes against Daesh, which claimed the Paris attacks.

Both Hollande and Obama reiterated their determination to see Assad step down in order to give Syria a chance for peace, with Hollande saying “it should be as soon as possible”.

The French leader will hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on Wednesday and with Putin in Moscow on Thursday, before dining with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the French capital on Sunday.

Acting on a French resolution, the UN Security Council last week authorised “all necessary measures” to fight Daesh.

But the delicate diplomacy around the conflict — in which both Moscow and Ankara are key players — was thrown brutally off course by the fighter jet downing, as Putin warned of “serious consequences for Russian-Turkish relations”.

Manhunt 

The US government has issued a worldwide travel alert warning American citizens of “increased terrorist threats” in the wake of militant attacks in Paris, Mali, Turkey and elsewhere.

Police in France said they were analysing what is thought to be a suicide belt similar to those used in the Paris attacks, found without its detonator in a dustbin outside the capital. Telephone data placed key suspect Salah Abdeslam in the area the night of the attacks.

Across the border in Belgium, Brussels entered a fourth day of lockdown over fears of an “imminent” terror strike as the manhunt continued for the Belgian-born Abdeslam.

As the search intensified for the 26-year-old suspect, authorities said a fourth person has been charged in connection with the bloodshed in Paris.

Two others — Mohammed Amri, 27, and Hamza Attou, 20 — were charged on Monday on suspicion of helping Abdeslam escape to Brussels after the attacks, while a third unnamed person faces charges of aiding him.

France has launched a major security crackdown since the attacks with police searching more than 1,200 premises, arresting 165 people and seizing 230 weapons — including     what the interior minister called “weapons of war”.