Saudi Arabia forms mega Muslim military coalition against ISIS

Saudi Arabia announced the formation of an Islamic military alliance of 34 countries to fight terrorism, with joint headquarters located in Riyadh.

The UAE said two weeks ago that it was ready to commit ground troops against jihadists in Syria, and described Russian air strikes there as attacks on a “common enemy”.

“It depends on the requests that come, it depends on the need and it depends on the willingness of countries to provide the support necessary”, he said.

Saudi Arabia announced earlier on Tuesday the formation of a 34-nation Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism, a move welcomed by the United States which has been urging a greater regional involvement in the campaign against the militants who control swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia’s defence minister said that the coalition will not just confront Islamic State, but “any terrorist group in front of us”.

Apart from Nigeria, other countries are: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, the Palestinians, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

“There will be global coordination with major powers and worldwide organisations…”

A Lebanese official confirmed to The Associated Press that his nation was also part of the 34-nation coalition. While several other countries have also shown interest to join the coalition, like Indonesia.

“ISIS has threatened not only Iran and the [Shia]-dominated regimes in Iraq and Syria but even the Sunni-dominated Arab states”.

The US was not informed of the alliance’s creation ahead of time – a further indication that the projection of Saudi leadership is likely to be the motivation here, over and above an increased military commitment to counter terrorism or anything of the sort that would indeed challenge Isis.

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 worldwide coalition led by the United States, though they have hitherto played a limited role.

“And that is why I have asked Secretary Carter to go to the Middle East – he’ll depart right after this press briefing – to work with our coalition partners on securing more military contributions to this fight”.

Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya and Afghanistan will be key countries of focus in the coalition’s efforts, however little detail has been released on the type of military set-up involved.

“The government is still observing and waiting to see the modalities of the military coalition formed by Saudi Arabia”, foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told The Jakarta Post.