World powers are poised to forge a single resolution at the United Nations Security Council to declare a common war against Isis and “eradicate” jihadists in Iraq and Syria, The Independent understands.

The attacks in Paris as well as the downing of the Russian jet over the Sinai Peninsula have galvanised a hitherto divided Security Council. And a new reality exists: with its alleged execution this week of a Chinese national, Isis has now slaughtered citizens of all five permanent Security Council members.

French officials said they were formally submitting a draft resolution to the Security Council, pushing aside a competing draft offered by Russia earlier this week. It could be adopted as early as Friday or over the weekend.

The French manoeuvre reflected confidence that its resolution would not provoke Russian or Chinese vetoes and would thus win approval.

The text, shared with the The Independent, calls on member states “with the capacity to do so” to “take all necessary measures, in compliance with international law, in particular international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law, on the territory under the control of Isil [Isis] in Syria and Iraq, to redouble and co-ordinate their efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed specifically by Isil… and to eradicate the safe haven they have established in Iraq and Syria”.

The resolution “is short, strong, and focused on one primary goal: the fight against the common enemy, Daesh [Isis]”, said France’s ambassador to the UN, François Delattre. “We intend to work with all our Security Council partners to achieve a swift adoption of this project, around which we hope the international community will come together.”

Passage of the French draft would mark a signal moment for the Security Council, where any resolution that explicitly endorses outside interference, particularly military interference, within the borders of a sovereign nation routinely encounters stiff resistance, usually from Russia or China. On Syria alone, the last time the council passed a unanimous resolution was in July of last year – on providing humanitarian aid.

The Russian version is only slightly amended from the one it submitted in September. At the time, it was spurned by London, Paris and Washington because it included provisions seeking the co-operation of governments in the region, including the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

The wreckage of the Russian jet brought down in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula by a suspected Isis bomb (AFP/Getty)

There is still nothing to indicate that Moscow is about to cut Mr Assad loose. However, there was cautious optimism in the corridors of the UN that Russia could not contemplate blocking a resolution that condemned Isis, given the Paris attacks and the bombing of one of its own planes.

“There is a momentum to have a Security Council product that condemns the attacks not just in Paris but also Beirut and Sharm el-Sheikh and stresses the unity of the council and its desire to tackle the threat posed by Isis,” one diplomat said.

The draft resolution recalls that, by “its violent extremist ideology, its terrorist acts, its continued gross systematic and widespread attacks directed against civilians” and other crimes, Isis “constitutes a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security”.

In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Show all 33 1 /33 In pictures: Saint-Denis raid In pictures: Saint-Denis raid A man is arrested by police officers at the site where a raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis, near Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint-Denis, near Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Hooded police officers detain a man in Saint-Denis, near Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers detain a man on the ground inside a shopping mall in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers arrest a man in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French police officers storm a church after a raid in Paris suburb Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers at work at the site where a raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Some people are being transferred to a local hospital near the site of this morning police raid in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Residents are evacuated in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Inhabitants are evacuated from a security perimeter set in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis city center In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Families are evacuated by police members at the site were a police raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Rescue teams take care of an injured police officer at the site where a police raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Members of special French RAID forces with a police dog and French riot police (CRS) secure the area during an operation in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police forces operate in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French riot police (CRS), soldiers, firefighters and health workers stand at the scene in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French riot police (CRS) secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Rescue teams and police gather at the site where raid happened in the city center of Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Soldiers operate in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers take up positions in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police and Ambulance vans are parked in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid A resident is being searched by police officers in Paris suburb Saint-Denis AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Members of French police special forces in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis city center, as French Police special forces raid an appartment, hunting those behind the attacks that claimed 129 lives in the French capital In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Anti-terrorist police raid apartment in Saint Denis, Paris. Reports suggest the target of the police siege in Saint-Denis is Abdelhamid Abaaoud, thought to be the mastermind behind the Paris attacks. Three suspected terrorists have barricaded themselves in an apartment gunfire has been exchanged between the men and dozens of armed police Rex In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French special police forces secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French police evacuate residents in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police officers take up positions in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Police forces prepare in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris AP In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French spolice stop and search a local resident as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French police members participate in an raid in the city center of Saint-Denis EPA In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French special police forces secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid Firemen wait for the develop of the operation in the city center of Saint-Denis EPA In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French police secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters In pictures: Saint-Denis raid French special police forces secure the area as shots are exchanged in Saint-Denis Reuters

It would be passed, more-over, under the stewardship of Britain as current holder of the rotating Security Council presidency. While the Government would surely welcome a resolution as an important demonstration of world unity, it also believes that the legal basis for strikes against Isis already exists under the UN Charter’s provisions on the right to self-defence.

Adding to the new sense of urgency were reports attributed to US and Iraqi intelligence that Isis is attempting to create a unit to develop and deploy chemical weapons.

The French President, François Hollande, is to visit Washington next week and thereafter Moscow in the hope of creating a common coalition of powers against Isis. Persuading presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin to set aside their differences will still be a difficult task. The US remains averse to joining hands with Russia in the light of its adventurism in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

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However, US Secretary of State John Kerry stressed Washington’s determination to defeat Isis quickly.

“We are going to defeat Daesh [Isis]. We always said it will take time,” he said. “We began our fight against al-Qaeda in 2001 and it took us quite a few years before we were able to eliminate Osama bin Laden and the top leadership and neutralise them as an effective force. We hope to do Daesh much faster than that and we think we have an ability to do that.”