2nd LD: Arab leaders urge immediate withdrawal of Houthi fighters from Yemen

Arab League (AL) member states called Sunday for immediate withdrawal of Houthi rebels from the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

They also urged the Shiite Houthi fighters to withdraw from governmental institutions and hand over their arms to legitimate authorities.

Reading the final declaration of the two-day summit held in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, the AL Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby said the Saudi Arabia-led military campaign against the Shiite Houthi rebels will continue until they end their military actions and hand over their weapons.

On Thursday, the Saudi-led airstrikes pounded military sites used by the Shiite Houthi groups which have seized large parts of the country including its capital Sanaa.

The Houthi said that their actions are to fight against the expansion of Salafism in Yemen, and for the defense of their Shiite community from widespread and systematic discrimination.

While the Yemeni government in turn accused them of intending to overthrow the government to build a Shiite country.

On forming a joint Arab force, the AL secretary general said all options are open to coordinate Arab efforts and plans to form a unified military force to defy the challenges in the region and protect the Arab national security.

Meanwhile, al-Araby reiterated that the Arab national security has been subjected to many threats.

He urged the international community to support the Arab efforts in fighting terrorism and take necessary measures to dry the resources of terror groups.

"We stress the necessity to coordinate the international and Arab efforts through exchanging intelligence and security information as well as military cooperation," he said.

He also voiced full Arab support to the Palestinian people and their legal rights in accordance with the international legitimacy and the Arab-proposed peace initiative.

On Libyan crisis, Al-Araby said that the transitional period that followed the ouster of former Libyan leader Moamar Qaddafi regime in 2011 left the North African country weak.

And it became weaker due to the spread of fanatic groups that control large parts of Libya in addition to the intervention of outside powers that aim at deciding the future of the Libyan people.

The secretary general also said that Iraq has been suffering since 2003 from organized terror attacks that negatively affected the government's ability to have full control over its territories.

The violence in Syria has produced fanaticism that turned the country into an arena for acting regime that led to the absence of the role of the government institutions and its inability to protect its people and sovereignty and unity of its territories, he said.

Al-Araby called on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, urging to place all nuclear facilities in the Middle East, including Iran, under the monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On the economic scope, al-Araby said achieving the Arab economic integration is a significant part of the Arab national security system.

He also stressed the intention to complete the plans to build an Arab great trade zone. Endit