EU foreign ministers have decided to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss plans to arm Iraq’s Kurds fighting the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group

EU foreign ministers have decided to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss plans to arm Iraq's Kurds fighting the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group.

At least 20 of the EU's 28 foreign ministers are expected to attend the meeting.

France and the US have begun to supply weapons to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, and have criticized European Union colleagues for remaining on holiday while civilians are being killed in Iraq.

"When there are people dying...you have to come back from your holidays," France Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said, after writing a letter to EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton demanding a meeting of ministers.

A senior European official responded to the claim saying this was "at best unfair. The European Union is not on holiday."
Italy, which currently holds the EU's rotating leadership, also called for talks.

"We're not talking about military intervention but providing support, even of a military sort, to the Kurdish government," said Italy's foreign minister Federica Mogherini.

The European Commission announced this week that it would boost humanitarian aid to Iraq to 17 million Euros ($22 million).

Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said the real challenge in helping civilians was access, not funding.

Also on the agenda will allegedly be the crises in Ukraine and Gaza and a request by Spain to address the Ebola outbreak in west Africa, according to media reports.