Saudi Arabia: deploying anti-ISIS troops not ruled out

Saudi Arabia’s Islamic anti-terror alliance will share information and train, equip and provide forces if necessary for the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at a briefing in Paris on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia announced earlier on Tuesday the formation of a 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism, a move that has been welcomed by the United States.

Jubeir said the new Muslim-state alliance will work with big powers to battle the militants, saying “it is time for Muslim world to be united to fight terrorism.”

“Nothing is off the table,” al-Jubeir said when asked whether the initiative could include troops on the ground.

“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.”

Meanwhile, the minister emphasized that the new alliance is not Sunni or Shiite.

Jubeir also said Saudi is participating in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS militants, which was launched since last year.

• The alliance

Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are among the Arab countries in the alliance, together with Islamic countries Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan, as well as African states.

"The countries here mentioned have decided on the formation of a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism, with a joint operations center based in Riyadh to coordinate and support military operations," the statement said...
 (With Reuters, AFP)
 alarabiya.net
15/12/15
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