EGYPTIAN President Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi has hailed Arab state leaders for ‘agreeing on the principle of forming a joint Arab military force’ to face the region’s security and terrorist threats.
At the meeting in Egypt’s Sharm al-Shaykh resort wrapping up the 26th Arab League summit, Al-Sisi, who had recently proposed the idea in response to the escalating warring conflict in neighbouring Libya and elsewhere in Yemen, said a ‘high-level committee’ will begin forming the joint force which will be ‘supervised by the armed forces’ chiefs of staff of the member states’.
Arab representatives would meet to study the creation of the force, Sisi said. There are no clear signs that all 22 members of the Arab League would contribute to the future force, but those strongly backing it are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
The five Arab states along with Egypt are currently leading a military coalition in Yemen against Shi’i Huthi rebels, who have forced President Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee the country after expanding their territorial control in southern Yemen.
Both Saudi Arabia and Egypt are reported to be the likely two Arab states with most influence in the formation of the joint force due to the size of their armies (personnel, tanks and aircraft). The two countries have an immediate priority in securing the southern entrance to the Red Sea (the Bab al-Mandab strait).
The narrow strait is the main gateway to the passing of European oil exports through Egypt’s Suez Canal, which links the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
The decision to form the force is mostly aimed at fighting jihadists who have overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria and won a foothold in Libya, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said ahead of the summit.
Arabi said the region was threatened by a ‘destructive’ force that threatened ‘ethnic and religious diversity,’ in an apparent reference to the Islamic State group jihadists.
Arab League Secretary General al-Arabi read the 15-minute Sharm al-Shaykh Declaration entitled: ‘Protection of Arab National Security against current challenges’.
He said: ‘We reserve our right to take all available means, including coordinating efforts and plans to set up a joint military force to face challenges ahead and protect the Arab national security, defend our security and future and the ambitions of our peoples, according to covenants of the Arab League and the joint defence pact and the international legitimacy.’
The Arab League chief made it clear that the US-led military operation in Yemen would continue until Huthis ended their ‘coup’ and ‘restored legitimacy’.
According to the declaration, the military action was taken after exploiting all available means to reach a peaceful solution. For the first time in a declaration, the ‘nuclear threat’ from Iran was mentioned to go hand in hand with Israeli threats in this regard.
The declaration said: ‘We reiterate the need to free the Middle East from mass destruction weapons and nuclear weapons, that Israel joins the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), and to bring all nuclear facilities in the region, including those of Iran, under the International Atomic Energy Agency’s relevant regulations.’
Al-Arabi mentioned the ‘control of extremist groups that do not embrace the understanding of the state of Libya’s borders’ and external interference in Libya and Syria. On Syria he said that violence spread in Syria led to ‘proxy wars’ around it.
‘We pledge to exert all efforts possible and to unify our ranks to prevent external parties from reaching their goals in exacerbating differences and tensions in some Arab countries on geographical, religious, ethnical or sectarian basis so as to protect the Arab state entities, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,’ he read.
The declaration also called for fighting terror ‘comprehensively’ and without distinction. We call for an international comprehensive perspective in dealing with terror without distinction or selectivity so that combating terror does not include certain groups while ignoring others, especially that all such groups embrace the same ideology and exchange weapons, intelligence and fighters,’ he said.
He added that countries should also exchange information and intelligence and set up judicial and military cooperation.
‘We call on the international community to support Arab efforts in combating terror and to take all measures necessary to nip in the bud funding and safe havens,’ he said.
The declaration ‘boasted’ of the 70th anniversary of the Arab League, which should be used to help strengthen joint Arab action at militarily, political, economic and social levels.
It also spoke about targeting the understanding of the state in the Arab world, and the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Arab countries.
‘We are closely following the confrontation between the understanding of the new modern state and destructive projects that downplay the understanding of the national state, empty the content of Arab causes and harm multilateral ethnic and religious fabric to employ this in deadly struggles sponsored by external parties,’ it said.
In this context, the declaration said: ‘We reaffirm Arab solidarity in letter and spirit.’ The declaration, read by Al-Arabi, also called on Arab religious institutions to ‘develop religious discourse to highlight the values of tolerance, mercy, accepting of the other and confronting of extremism’.
Al-Arabi also called on such institutions to stand up to ‘obscurantist (dark) ideas of terror groups’.
‘We completely reject any attempts to link such groups to Islam,’ he read.
The declaration reiterated Arab ‘continuing’ support to the Palestinian issue, saying it will last until the Palestinian peoples preserve their ‘complete fixed and legitimate rights according to international resolutions and the Arab peace initiative’.
The declaration renewed the Arab pledge for peoples to live in dignity and freedom. We renew our pledge for Arab peoples to live in dignity, to progress on the path of development and enlightenment, and establish the rights to citizenship, freedoms, dignity, women, sustainable development, social equality and education,’ it said.
Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shukri said, in a news conference following the wrapping up of the 26th Arab League summit in Sharm al-Shaykh, that the creation of the ‘agreed’ joint Arab military force will ‘incarnate the Arab nation’s ability to repel the evilness of the greedy and the aggressors’.
The formation of the force is one of the ways to ‘protect the Arab identity’ and ensure a better future, Shukri said.
The Arab Summit called for offering full political and financial support to the legitimate government in Libya.
It also necessitated the importance of respecting Libya’s unity and sovereignty. In a resolution on the dangerous developments in Libya, the summit called for offering all necessary support to protect Libya including supporting the national army so that it can eradicate terror and restore security.
The Arab leaders called for lifting the embargo imposed on arms imports to the Libyan government so that it can face terror. They called on the international community to shoulder the responsibility and prevent the arms flow to the terrorist groups.
The leaders expressed concern over the continuity of armed clashes in light of the increasing militia activities in Libya. They condemned the murder of Egyptians in Sirte and the bombings by Da’ish (so-called Islamic State – IS, formerly known as ISIS/ISIL) where scores of Libyans and Egyptians were killed.
They renewed the calls for supporting the Libyan government in its efforts to secure borders to stop the flow of weapons to the terrorist organisations, drug trafficking and illegal immigration. Qatar had reservations on the whole resolution.
In its resolution on supporting Lebanon, the summit asserted the right of the Lebanese to resist any assault, necessitating differentiation between combating terror and legal resistance against the Israeli occupation.
It also supported the Lebanese call on the international community to put an end to the Israeli violations and threats.
The summit also lauded the national role of the Lebanese army and security forces in keeping stability and civil security and supporting efforts exerted to maintain Lebanon’s sovereignty.
The summit welcomed aid offered by sisterly states to Lebanon, topped by Saudi Arabia which granted Lebanon four billion dollars.
It condemned the abduction of the Lebanese military members by Da’ish and Nusrah Front since August 2014, calling for their release.
The summit welcomed the keenness of the Lebanese government to respect the international legitimacy resolutions over the assassination of late Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.
The Arab Summit also supported the dialogue among the Lebanese political parties to pass their disputes and ease the political tension in the country.
The Arab Summit expressed its support for Syria’s just demand and right to fully restore the Golan Heights occupied by Israel since 1967.
As well, ‘The Arab Summit reiterated the UAE’s absolute sovereignty over its three islands Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu-Musa. The Summit slammed the Iranian occupation of the three UAE islands in the Arab Gulf and supported all the procedures and peaceful means taken by the UAE to restore its sovereignty over the three islands. . .
‘It urged Iran to stop the violations and provocations deemed as interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.’
