Violence in the Middle East, now the most volatile and polarized in at least 35 years, led Arab states to agree Sunday to assemble a military coalition to fight common threats, a task unachieved in the group’s 65-year history.
The force, with about 40,000 soldiers, would be based in either Cairo or Riyadh and would deploy in areas such as Libya and Yemen, primarily to combat the Islamic State, the Guardian reported.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi touted the idea at an Arab League summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in his home country. The group’s 22 members gathered to discuss the region’s multitude of crises.
“The Arab leaders have decided to agree on the principle of a joint Arab military force,” Sisi said.
Nabil al-Arabi, the Arab League’s head, hopes that a unified force will suppress the Islamic State’s power from spreading further as it maintains footholds in eastern Syria, western Iraq and parts of Libya.
The Arab League also discussed other issues in the region, primarily centered on Iran, which has some sort of presence in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. There are also claims that Tehran is backing the Houthi rebels that have overrun Yemen.
However, expanding the Arab League’s unified force to divisive issues like in Yemen could ultimately splinter the group.
