Nigeria joins 33 other ‘predominately Muslim nations’ to fight terrorism

Pakistan found itself in the cross hairs of Middle East politics after Saudi Arabia included it in a 34-nation military coalition of Muslim countries to combat terrorism without getting Islamabad’s consent, media reports said today.

A joint operations centre will be established in capital Riyadh to coordinate and support military operations against terrorism and to develop the necessary programmes and mechanisms for supporting these efforts.

The official ruled out the possibility of deployment of Pakistani troops on foreign soil under the new Saudi alliance.

Jubeir said the goal of the new Islamic alliance is to unite these countries and recognize the problem as well as take any necessary actions.

It said the alliance supports the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which “calls for member states to cooperate to combat terrorism in all its forms … and rejects all justifications and excuses for terrorism”.

Iran is noteworthy for its absence, while numerous members already belong to the global coalition led by the United States, though they have hitherto played a limited role.

Saudi Arabia has been on the target list of the self-proclaimed Caliphate terrorist organization. “We can’t undertake these operations without coordinating with legitimacy in this place and the global community”, bin Salman said without elaborating.

“Turkey is ready to contribute by all its means to all gatherings that aim to fight terrorism, no matter where or by whom it is organised”, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara on Tuesday.

Thirty-four Muslim countries decided Monday night to establish an anti-terrorism alliance with headquarters in Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

ISIL has pledged to overthrow the monarchies of the Gulf and have mounted a series of attacks on Shiite Muslim mosques and security forces in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. “Just as the U.S. is doing more in this fight, just as our allies France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Australia and Italy are doing more, so must others”, he said, pointedly leaving out America’s Sunni Arab allies, who are part of the coalition against the Islamic State.

The announcement of the coalition comes after Saudi Arabia succeeded in bringing Syria’s disparate opposition groups to the negotiating table.

The crown prince provided some indications on the way the military efforts of the new Islamic alliance may proceed.

Europol’s director estimates the number of European nationals that have trained as foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq at between 5,000 and 7,000.