French discussing Kobani action with Turks: minister

PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Tuesday it was vital to act in order to stop Islamic State's advance on the northern Syria border town of Kobani, and was discussing with Turkey what could be done. "A lot is at stake in Kobani and everything must be done so that the Daesh terrorists are stopped and pushed back," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the French parliament. "A tragedy is unfolding, and we must all react." Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said Kobani, or Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, was about to fall after Islamic State advanced into the south west of the besieged town, pressing home a three-week assault that has cost a reported 400 lives. Fabius said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu and that President Francois Hollande would speak to Erdogan later on Tuesday "to see how to react in face of the urgent situation." He gave no details on what help France would actually offer and officials declined to comment on specifics. Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that has taken control of large parts of neighbouring Syria and Iraq, has ramped up its offensive in recent days against the mainly Kurdish border town, despite being targeted by U.S.-led coalition air strikes aimed at halting its progress. France was the first country after the United States to strike insurgents in Iraq. It has so far carried out two air strikes and armed Kurdish Peshmerga forces. But it has ruled out strikes in Syria and says it will only reinforce and train moderate rebels on the ground, although no details of those efforts have been given. Fabius, who will meet his Cavusoglu in Paris on Friday, repeated France would increase its support for the ramshackle Free Syrian Army. "We are also reinforcing our own cooperation with the forces that on the ground are fighting Islamic State," he said. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Sophie Walker)