British Prime Minister David Cameron may announce as early as this week that Britain is ready to join airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq and that he plans to seek Parliament's approval for such action, government sources said on Tuesday.

Cameron is due to set out his position in a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday night at which he will call on the world to unite to destroy Islamic State militants, whom he has warned are planning to attack Britain.

The decision to strike in Iraq would be at Baghdad's request. Cameron was due to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday. Sources in Cameron's office expect him to request British airstrikes against the Islamic State group during the meeting.

Cameron has not yet decided whether Britain will take part in strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria because of legal issues, one source familiar with the matter said, and any announcement on Iraq would be to join strikes in principle and would not herald immediate action.

"This is a fight you cannot opt out of," Cameron told NBC News in an interview on Tuesday. "These people want to kill us. They've got us in their sights and we have to put together this coalition ... to make sure that we ultimately destroy this evil organization."

Reuters

(China Daily 09/25/2014 page12)