Saudi Arabia announced late Tuesday the formation of an Islamic military alliance of 34 countries including Gulf states, Egypt and Turkey to fight terrorism. Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, said in a press conference at King Salman Air Base in Riyadh, "The formation of the Islamic military alliance emanates from the Islamic world's keenness to fight terrorism and be a partner of the world in the fight against this scourge." He said an operations room of the alliance will be established in Riyadh to coordinate and support efforts to fight terrorism in all countries and parts of the Islamic world, noting that each country will contribute according to its capabilities. "Today, every Islamic country is fighting terrorism individually. The coordination of efforts is very important. Through this operations room, means and efforts will be developed for fighting terrorism all over the Islamic world," said Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad. "We have a number of countries suffering from terrorism, including Syria, Iraq, Sinai (Egypt), Yemen, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. It requires very strong efforts to fight terrorism. Undoubtedly through this alliance, there will be coordination to fight it," he said. "We will confine terrorist organizations whatever might be their classification. Of course, in connection with operations in Syria and Iraq, we cannot carry out these operations but only through coordination with the legitimacy in both of them and the international community," the deputy crown prince said. He also asserted that the Islamic military alliance will coordinate with globally important countries and international organizations in this action, pointing out that the alliance will fight terrorism at the military, intellectual and media levels, in addition to the remarkable security effort currently existing. Asked whether the new alliance will confront the Daesh terrorist organization only, the deputy crown prince said: ‘No, but against any terrorist organization that emerges before us. We will work and take actions to fight it." The 34 members all belong to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The new counterterrorism alliance includes nations with large and established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt as well as war-torn countries such as Libya and Yemen. African nations that have suffered militant attacks such as Mali, Chad, Somalia and Nigeria are also members. Smaller member-states included in the coalition are the archipelago of Maldives and the Gulf island-nation of Bahrain. Other Gulf Arab countries such as Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE are also in the coalition. Benin is another member. Turkey, the only country in the alliance that is also a NATO member, welcomed the new coalition. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called it the "best response to those who are trying to associate terror and Islam." "We believe that this effort by Muslim countries is a step in the right direction," Davutoglu said. More than 10 other "Islamic countries" had expressed support for the alliance, including Indonesia, said a joint statement on the formation of the Islamic alliance. "These countries have procedures to go through before joining the alliance, but out of keenness to achieve this alliance as soon as possible, (this alliance of) 34 countries has been announced," said Prince Muhammad. The Senior Scholars Council commended the announcement of the formation of the Islamic military alliance. In a statement, the council stressed that terrorism threatens the whole world, but the Islamic world is the most affected by it as Islam has been taken as a pretext to tarnish its pure image. It said fighting terrorism is one of the most important duties imposed by the Islamic religion. — With agencies
