Saudi Arabia launches Islamic anti-terrorism coalition

Saudi Arabia has announced 34 Islamic nations have joined a new military alliance to fight terrorisms.

A joint operations centre is to be established in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with countries from Asia, Africa and Arabia set to be involved in the alliance. However, Saudi Arabia’s main regional rival Iran will not be included in the coalition, along with Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

The list of 34 members include: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinians, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The move comes amid international pressure for Gulf Arabia states to do more in the fight against Islamic State (IS).

Saudi Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman said the new alliance wold co-ordinate efforts against extremists in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.

Prince Mohammed maintained: “This comes from the Islamic world's vigilance in fighting this disease [Islamic extremism] which has damaged the Islamic world.”

"Currently, every Muslim country is fighting terrorism individually... so co-ordinating efforts is very important."

The SPA state news agency also claimed 10 other ‘Islamic countries’ had expressed support, including Indonesia.

The Prince added: "These countries have procedures to go through before joining the coalition, but out of keenness to achieve this coalition as soon as possible, [the alliance of] 34 countries has been announced."

In addition to the announcement of the coalition, SPA stated that Islam forbids ‘corruption and destruction in the world’ and that terrorism represents ‘a serious violation of human dignity and rights, especially the right to life and the right to security’.

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