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Kerry In Saudi Arabia To Rally Arab Support Against IS Militants

September 11, 2014
by RFE/RL

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and regional counterparts began talks September 11 in Saudi Arabia on forming a coalition to support a campaign against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, five other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates -- and Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are taking part in the meeting.

Kerry has described the talks as 'very important.'

Before the meeting started, Kerry met his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal and Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled al-Khalifa.

Kerry arrived in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah on September 11 a day after a speech in which President Barack Obama promised a 'relentless' campaign against the militants, who control large swaths of Iraq and Syria.

An American official was quoted as saying Kerry would discuss cooperation to facilitate air strikes and stop the flow of money to IS fighters.

In his nationally televised speech at the White House, Obama said he is prepared to attack the IS in Syria and Iraq in an intensified campaign to "degrade and ultimately destroy" the militant group, also known as ISIL.

The president said the United States will send an additional 475 U.S. military personnel to Iraq in order to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting the IS, but that these troops would not be engaged in combat.

"I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil,' he said.

In addition to announcing "a systemic campaign of air strikes against these terrorists" that could extend to targets in Syria, Obama called on the U.S. Congress to approve additional resources to train and equip Syrian fighters battling IS militants.

A senior U.S. administration official told reporters in a conference call prior to the speech that this training would be conducted in Saudi Arabia, which has agreed to host the program.

Obama compared the strategy he spelled out in the speech to U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Yemen and Somalia in recent years.

Obama called the militant group's name a misnomer, saying it is not "Islamic" because "no religion condones the killing of innocents.' The organization is not a state because "it is recognized by no government, nor the people it subjugates."

"ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way," he said.

He called the group's fighters "unique in their brutality," citing in part the execution of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Obama said the role of the Iraqi people and regional players will be crucial if the Islamic State is to be defeated, and he linked his decision to step up the U.S. role in the fight with the forming of "an inclusive government" in Baghdad in recent days.

'American power can make a decisive difference, but we cannot do for Iraqis what they must do for themselves, nor can we take the place of Arab partners in securing their region," Obama said.

On September 11, a statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi's office said Iraq welcomed Obama's strategy of air strikes and support for Baghdad's forces.

However, Iran said the emerging international coalition to battle IS militants was 'shrouded in serious ambiguities.'

State television quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham as saying some coalition members are 'financial and military supporters of terrorists in Iraq and Syria.'

Syria's main Western-backed opposition group, meanwhile, said it stands 'ready and willing' to partner with the international community to defeat the militants.

But the Syrian National Coalition said air strikes needed to be coupled with a strategy for ultimately toppling President Bashar al-Assad.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, speaking in Berlin, said that Britain 'will not be taking part in any airstrikes in Syria.' Hammond said London won't be 'revisiting' the issue after Parliament decided last year against participating in airstrikes.

However, British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said later Britain has not ruled out military action against the IS in Syria

'In terms of air power, the prime minister has not ruled anything out and that is the position,' Cameron's spokesman told reporters.

And Russia's Foreign Ministry said on September 11 that air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria without a UN Security Council mandate would be an act of aggression.

Speaking in Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said, 'This step, in the absence of a UN Security Council decision, would be an act of aggression, a gross violation of international law.'

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iraq-kerry-is- arab-support/26577793.html

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Kerry In Saudi Arabia To Rally Arab Support Against IS Militants