British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is in Paris this morning to pay tribute to the 130 victims of the November 13 Paris attacks and for talks with French President Hollande, is thought to be pushing for parliamentary support for British air strikes on Syria.
In an article in this morning's Daily Telegraph, Cameron wrote that the Paris attacks "reminded us so starkly [that] Islamic State is not some remote problem thousands of miles away; it is a direct threat to our security."
Cameron added that in the next few days he will be "making the case for Britain to join our international allies in going after [IS] at their headquarters in Syria, not just Iraq."
"We cannot leave the burden and risks of protecting our country to others. Such action would be one key element of a comprehensive, long-term strategy to defeat [IS], in parallel with a major international effort to bring an end to the war in Syria," Cameron wrote.
Britain has so far participated in air strikes against IS only in Iraq.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has tweeted that he and French President Hollande are "united" in their "determination to defeat the evil death cult" of IS.
Cameron tweeted earlier that he had "stood shoulder to shoulder" with Hollande outside Bataclan in Paris.
After laying a wreath at Bataclan, the two leaders had talks at the Elysee Palace. Hollande was expected to tell the British Prime Minister about plans for an international coalition to defeat IS.
The BBC has tweeted this photo of British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande visiting the Bataclan concert hall in Paris where 90 people were killed on November 13 by IS attackers.
This ends our November 20 live blogging of the aftermath of the aftermath of the attacks in Paris and of the hotel siege in Mali. Be sure to check back here on Monday November 23 for our continuing coverage.
For more articles on Islamic State and global terror, please go to our Under The Black Flag blog.
The gunmen in the Mali hotel siege sorted hostages by their faith, according to Kassim Traore, a Malian journalist who was in a building about 50 meters from the siege.
The New York Times writes that Traore "said the attackers had told hostages to recite a declaration of Muslim faith as a way separating Muslims from non-Muslims. Those who could recite the declaration, the Shahada, were allowed to leave the hotel."
As the New York Times points out, The Shabab, a Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, used a similar vetting process to differentiate Muslims from non-Muslims in the attack at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2013.
U.S. troops were not involved in the raid on the Radisson Blu in Bamako that ended the siege, a U.S. defense official has told ABC News.
Sky News has pictures from inside the Radisson Blu in Bamako, Mali where the hostages have now been freed. So far 27 people have been reported killed.
Hostages are leaving the Radisson Blu hotel right now, the BBC's Faisal Irshaid has just tweeted.
Here is a brief summary of the events at today's hotel hostage crisis in Mali.
-- An unknown number of gunmen -- some reports said two and others said as many as 10 -- stormed the Radisson Blu luxury hotel in Mali's capital Bamako at 0700 GMT today.
-- The gunmen trapped some 170 people in the hotel, including 30 staff. The rest were guests.
-- The gunmen entered the hotel shooting and shouting "Allahu Akbar" or "God is Great."
-- Some hostages were reportedly freed after they showed that they could read verses from the Quran.
-- Special forces stormed the hotel to free the hostages.
-- At least three people have been killed including a Belgian Member of Parliament, Geoffrey Dieudonne, who was in Mali to give a seminar to local government officials.
-- There are reports that 27 bodies have been seen at the Radisson Blu.
-- Two hotel attackers have been reported killed.
-- Al-Mourabitoun, a jihadist group affililated to Al-Qaeda and based in northern Mali has claimed responsibility for the attacks but this has not yet been confirmed.
-- Six Americans were freed from the hotel. It is not clear whether any more Americans were inside.
-- U.S. troops assisted with freeing hostages.
-- French special forces were sent to Mali to assist with the response to the siege.
Reports are emerging that the death toll from the Mali hotel siege could be as high as 27, though it is not clear how many gunmen have been killed.