Off the wire
• Nepalese leaders to hold crucial talk to end political deadlock  • China treasury bond futures close higher Tuesday  • China Hushen 300 index futures close lower Tuesday  • Indonesias trade balance swings to 350 mln USD deficit in Nov as investment grows  • Rare marble sphinx unearthed in NW China  • Chinese shares close mixed Tuesday  • Tokyo stocks fall on jitters ahead of Fed's possible rate hike  • New Zealand child poverty rate doubles three decades: report  • Brazil's Embraer delivers 1st Phenom 100E executive jet in China  • Mortar attack injures 11 in Afghanistan  
You are here: 　 Home

Saudi Arabia announces Islamic military alliance against terrorism

Xinhua, December 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday the formation of an Islamic military alliance to fight terrorism, with command center in Riyadh, Saudi Press Agency reported.

A statement of the agency highlighted that the alliance consists of 23 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Cote d'Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen.

More than ten other Islamic countries have expressed their support for this alliance and will take the necessary measures in this regard, including Indonesia, the statement added.

The alliance will be led by Saudi Arabia and its command center will be in Riyadh to coordinate and support military operations to fight terrorism and to develop the necessary programs and mechanisms for supporting these efforts.

The appropriate arrangements shall be developed for coordination with friendly peace-loving nations and international bodies for the sake of supporting international efforts to combat terrorism and to save international peace and security.

While Saudi Arabia and other members in the alliance are engaged for months in a war against Houthis in Yemen, the statement didn't highlight the exact areas that will be targeted in fighting terrorism, or if Syria and territories of the Islamic States (IS) will be included or not, either the type of operations.

The alliance will perform the duty to protect the nations from the evils of all armed groups and terrorist organizations - whatever their doctrine or title - which spread killing and corruption in the world and are designed to terrorize the innocent, the statement highlighted.

The alliance will also be committed to the provisions contained in the United Nations' Charter, the charter of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other international conventions aimed at the eradication of terrorism.

It affirms the right of states to self-defense in accordance with the purposes and principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations and on the basis of the provisions of the OIC Convention on Combating Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and the elimination of its objectives and its causes.

Arab countries have been badly affected by the disturbances in the region that started to effect the whole world. Many terrorist acts have crippled the development and stability of the Middle East. Many of those countries were targeted in deadly terrorist attacks. Endit