Syria to Jordan: help us fight Islamic State, al Qaeda

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria urged Jordan to work with it to fight Islamic State and al Qaeda's Syria wing, condemning what it described as the "heinous" killing of a Jordanian pilot by militants, Syria's state news agency SANA said on Wednesday. The Syrian foreign ministry called on Jordan, which is part of a U.S.-led aerial campaign against Islamic State, "to cooperate in the fight against terrorism represented by the organization Daesh and Nusra Front ... and other terrorist organizations associated with them in Syria and the region." Daesh is a pejorative Arabic acronym for Islamic State and Nusra Front is al Qaeda's Syria wing. Both have seized land in Syria. The United States has said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cannot be a partner in the fight against Islamic State. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Susan Fenton)