Obama seeks $5.6bn to fight IS extremists

WASHINGTON: US congressional officials say they’re expecting a more than $5 billion request from President Barack Obama’s administration to pay for munitions and other military requirements to combat Islamic State militants who have seized control of large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
The $5.6 billion request was expected to be a top item on the agenda of Friday’s meeting between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders.
The funding comes on top of an earlier $58.6 billion request to cover overseas military operations in the war on terror.
US national security adviser Susan Rice, meanwhile, said the US is not engaged in military coordination with Iran in countering Islamic State forces.
Rice, at a White House briefing, responded to a report that President Obama had written a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei about Islamic State by saying, “We are in no way engaged in any coordination — military coordination — with Iran on countering ISIL.”