Seven Tajiks jailed for raising an IS banner, our Tajik Service reports:
Seven residents of Tajikistan's southwestern Shahrtuz district have been jailed for raising the Islamic State (IS) extremist organization's flag in a public place.
The Khatlon regional court's judge, Zubaidullo Mahmudzoda, told RFE/RL on December 4 that the seven men, three of whom are younger than 18, had been found guilty on December 1 of publicly calling to overthrow the government and recruiting people to illegally fight abroad.
They were sentenced to prison terms between seven and 27 years in jail the same day.
The men were arrested in August after they raised a black flag looking similar to the one known as the IS flag in the center of the district's capital, Shahrtuz.
Tajik authorities have said that some 500 Tajik nationals are fighting alongside IS militants in Syria and Iraq.
Russia is expanding a second Syrian air base, our news desk reports:
Russia is expanding an air base in Homs Province in western Syria to accommodate its fighter jets, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
The monitoring group said on December 3 that the Russians were adding fortifications and developing runways at the Shayrat air base, about 40 kilometers southeast of Homs city, in a sign they intend to use it as their second air base in the country.
The work under way could signal Moscow's intention to step up air strikes in the country's central region where the Islamic State group is active, it said.
A U.S. official said the United States believes Russia had been moving equipment to the Shayrat base and some of the equipment is already operational.
Russia has been conducting air strikes in Syria since September 30, using the Syrian government's Basel al-Assad air base in the coastal province of Latakia. Su-24 bombers and helicopters take off daily from that base. (Reuters, AP)
Barring any major events, that concludes our live-blogging of Islamic State for Thursday, December 3. Check back here tomorrow for more of our ongoing coverage.
UK Participation in Syria Air Campaign Won't Be Gamechanger
Britain's participation in the anti-IS air campaign in Syria will be no gamechanger, experts have told AFP.
Some military analysts also warned that air strikes alone will not be enough to defeat IS.
"The answer is not dropping more bombs," said Hassan Hassan, a Syria expert at the Chatham House think tank, pointing to the risk of radicalizing residents of areas targeted by warplanes.
What is most needed is stepped-up support for more moderate Syrian opposition groups -- help with overall tactics and strategy rather than with money or weapons, according to Hassan.
Russia's Suspension Of Turkish Stream Leaves Miles Of Stranded, Useless Pipes
Reuters reports on one of the consequences of Russia's announcement earlier today that it is suspending talks with Turkey over the Turkish Stream pipeline project, amid the row over Turkey's downing of a Russian jet near the Syrian border.
Gas pipes worth $1.95 billion will be stranded on the shores of the Black Sea, Reuters says.
The pipes, which Russian energy giant Gazprom ordered from Japan and Germany, can only be used in the Black Sea.
Turkish Stream was a pipeline intended to pump Russian gas into southeast Europe via Turkey, bypassing Ukraine.
"Saudi Arabia's effort to unite Syrian rebels in Riyadh next week will be a big test of its regional ambitions after years of bickering between opposition groups and serious misgivings about the initiative among major powers with a stake in the war," Reuters reports.
The meeting next week "will be attended by around 65 members of the political and armed opposition, including around 15 representatives from armed groups," Reuters adds.
But the two most powerful armed groups -- IS and Al-Qaeda affiliate the Al-Nusra Front -- will not be there: IS has not been invited and Nusra is not expected to attend.
Iran has slammed the meeting as harmful to peace prospects in Syria, Western countries are alarmed at the role played by Islamists and Turkey is upset about the fact that Kurds will likely attend, so Saudi Arabia "may struggle" to achieve its goal, Reuters points out.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova asks in a Facebook post what would happen to the IS group if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stood down.
Zakharova was responding to a comment by Britain's Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, who told Channel 4 News yesterday that the Syrian crisis could be solved if Russian President Putin "[picked] up the telephone to Assad and [told] him the game is over."
Zakharova wrote:
"So. Let's face it. If everything was just like our British colleagues advised, and after Assad goes the madness ends, where is IS going to go in that case? Or will someone also telephone them and tell them the game is over?
Here's a question, who's going to telephone IS?"
AFP's correspondent in Ankara has one more detail about the meeting in Belgrade today between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.
AFP is now reporting that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart met in Belgrade today on the sidelines of the OSCE ministerial council.
A Turkish foreign ministry official confirmed the meeting to AFP, saying that "the meeting between the two foreign ministers has begun as scheduled."