S audi Arabia has announced the establishment of an “Islamic military alliance” with 34 nations to coordinate and fight against “terrorism”, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Tuesday. “It depends on the requests that come”, he noted, adding that the picture should become clearer within the next few weeks.
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Saudi Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman Al-Saud (above) explained that the new organization will combat not only ISIL but “all the terrorist groups confronting us”.
Responding to Saudi Arabia’s announcement to form 34-state alliance to combat terrorism, Pakistan on Wednesday welcomed the move and said it is awaiting further details to decide the extent of its participation in different activities of the alliance.
Meanwhile, UN brokered peace talks between Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the country’s Shiite rebels begun in Switzerland as the guns went quiet across Yemen and air raids from a Saudi-coalition targeting the rebels were halted.
Pakistan has been a longterm ally of Saudi Arabia, but has declined to participate in a number of recent conflicts spearheaded by the kingdom.
Smaller member-states included in the coalition are the archipelago of the Maldives and the Gulf Arab island-nation of Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
In the past Pakistan has twice rejected USA calls for joining alliances against the militant Islamic State (IS) group on the same pretext.
Alliance includes 34 mainly Muslim states but excludes regional rival Iran as well as Iraq and Syria.
Speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, the Deputy Crown Prince said the counter-terrorism force was borne out of “the Islamic world’s vigilance in fighting this disease [terrorism] which has damaged the Islamic world”.
The statement said the formation of the alliance “was based on the Islamic Cooperation Organization’s agreement on the fight against all sorts of terror”. Many terrorist acts have crippled the development and stability of the Middle East. Many of those countries were targeted in deadly terrorist attacks. “It is therefore not surprising for Saudi to seek greater cooperation across the board in the fight against militant Islamism”, said Krieg, who also serves as a consultant to the Qatari armed forces. “In terms of operations in Syria and Iraq, we can’t undertake these operations without coordinating with legitimacy in this place and the global community”, bin Salman said. A joint operations centre is to be established in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.
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Neither Iraq nor Syria – whose governments are close to Shia Muslim Iran – are members.
