UAE joins Muslim military alliance to fight terrorism

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: UAE joins Muslim military alliance to fight terrorism The United Arab Emirates has joined more than 30 other nations to form an “Islamic military alliance” to fight terrorism, officials in Saudi Arabia have said. According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, 34 countries have signed up for the scheme and the joint operations centre will be based in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Other Gulf countries to have joined include Kuwait and Qatar. The report said the alliance will be Saudi-led and is being established because terrorism “should be fought by all means and collaboration should be made to eliminate it”. The statement said Islam forbids “corruption and destruction in the world” and that terrorism constitutes “a serious violation of human dignity and rights, especially the right to life and the right to security”. The new counterterrorism coalition includes nations with large and established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt as well as war-torn countries with embattled militaries such as Libya and Yemen. African nations that have suffered terrorist attacks such as Mali, Chad, Somalia and Nigeria are also members. Saudi Arabia is currently leading a coalition in Yemen, which includes the UAE, against Shia Houthi rebels and is part of the US-led coalition bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria. RELATED: UAE officer killed in action in Yemen At a news conference on Tuesday, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman said the new Islamic military coalition will develop mechanisms for working with other countries and international bodies to support counterterrorism efforts. He said their efforts would not be limited to only countering ISIS. “Currently, every Muslim country is fighting terrorism individually … so coordinating efforts is very important,” he said. He said the joint operations centre will be established in Riyadh to “coordinate and support military operations to fight terrorism” across the Muslim world. Smaller member-states included in the coalition are the Maldives and Bahrain. But Iraq and Syria whose forces are battling to regain territory taken by ISIS and whose governments are allied with Iran, which is not part of the alliance, are not in the coalition. Benin, while it does not have a majority Muslim population, is also a member of this new counterterrorism coalition. All the group’s members are also part of the larger Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which is headquartered in Saudi Arabia. news@7days.ae Read the original story at: UAE joins Muslim military alliance to fight terrorism