French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that Iraq would announce its total “liberation” from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) by the end of December. He made the prediction at a joint news conference with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani while on an official visit to Doha, AFP said. “There will be a liberation before the end of the year and we will, in the next months I hope, achieve a military victory in the Iraqi-Syrian zone,” he told reporters. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its air campaign to defeat IS in Syria had been “accomplished” and that the country was “completely liberated” from the group.