G20 summit likely to yield agreement on anti-Islamic State efforts - expert

    The Group of Twenty summit underway in Turkey Antalya on November 15-16 will yield a common program to counter the Islamic State terrorist group, a Russian political observer said on Sunday.
    "Most likely, participants in various anti-terrorist coalitions will bring their position closer. And will agree on rebuffing the Islamic State," Alexei Mukhin, director of the Political Information Center, a think tank, said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV.
    However, policies in Syria are unlikely to be changed, neither after the summit nor until the conflict is over, the expert said, while adding that the attitudes towards the Russian-led coalition would not be changed. No decision on a ground operation in Syria is likely either.
    "It looks that most probably Syria will be divided into segments of influence," Mukhin noted.
    The anti-terror topic has come into the fore after a series of terrorist attacks that rocked Paris on Friday evening with shootings, bomb blasts and hostage taking. Hostages were taken at the Bataclan concert hall where 1,500 people gathered for a rock concert and almost simultaneously three suicide bombers blew themselves up next to the Stade de France stadium where a football match between French and German national teams was in the full swing.
    Besides, terrorists opened fire at people in popular nightlife spots - cafes, bars and restaurants crowded at that time. Latest reports said that the death toll reached 129; another 352 are injured, of whom 99 are in critical condition, TASS reports.