- Egyptian President Sisi calls for joint Arab military force
- Kuwaiti emir says Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen poses threat to entire Middle East
King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Saturday vowed that the military intervention his country is leading against Shia rebels in Yemen will continue until it brings “security” to the Yemeni people.
The campaign “will continue until it achieves its goals for the Yemeni people to enjoy security,” the king said while addressing a summit of the Arab League at Sharm el-Sheikh.
Addressing the Arab leaders, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi renewed calls for the creation of a joint Arab military force.
Saying that the crises in the Middle East and North Africa region have reached an unprecedented danger, Sisi said he “backs calls for a unified Arab force” to confront regional security threats. Sisi added that there is an urgent need to filter the religious rhetoric of extremism, emphasizing the need to support the elected, legitimate Libyan government.
The president also reiterated that Egypt’s participation in the Saudi-led coalition was ‘imperative,’ after meddling there by a foreign power – a thinly veiled reference to Iran, adding that it aims to preserve Yemen’s unity.
The campaign of airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition was in response to a power grab in the impoverished nation by Iranian-backed Shia rebels known as the Houthis.
Iran and the Houthis deny that Tehran arms the rebel movement.
Sisi also said Arab countries are facing an unprecedented threat to their stability and identity.
Sisi met with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Yemen’s embattled President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi before the summit.
Earlier on, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah told a contingent of Arab leaders that the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen poses a threat on the region.
“Rapid developments underway in Yemen pose a threat to our security,” said al-Sabah during his opening speech, adding that Saudi Arabia and GCC countries had a right to defend their countries.
Al-Sabah also emphasized on the need to find a solution for the conflict in Libya. He then renewed calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in his address to summit attendees blamed Houthi rebels and ex-president Saleh for the ongoing crisis.
Tamim said Houthi militias should disarm and recognise the legitimacy of Yemen’s President Hadi.
In the same vein, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi welcomed the counter offensive against the Houthis in Yemen.
In his address at the Arab League summit, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas slammed what he called Israeli violation of international law by building settlements and the repeated attacks on religious houses of worship.
“Since the Oslo Accords, Israel has violated agreements,” Abbas said as quoted by the Jerusalem Post. “Once it ceases to violate these agreements, we will also go back to the agreements.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also addressed the summit.
State television broadcast footage showed Hadi arrival at the summit venue, the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, where he was greeted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The two-day summit is being held just a few days after a Saudi-led regional coalition launched a military campaign “Operation Decisive Storm” against the Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels who have taken control of major cities in the West of Yemen.
