Kerry seeks Arab support for coalition against ISIS
Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah
11Sep 2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet with leaders from key Arab countries in Saudi Arabia on Thursday as he seeks regional support for to fight Islamic State militants who control territory along Iraq's border with Syria. Kerry spent the day in Baghdad meeting with Iraq's new leaders.
Kerry began his discussions Thursday with Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, who used a cane as he walked to greet the secretary of state at the jetway to his plane.Kerry was scheduled to meet with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening.
U.S. officials have cast the campaign against Islamic State as a global fight against Islamist radicals and the threat they pose beyond Syria and Iraq.
Kerry said his travels through the Middle East and Europe over the coming days were an effort to "meet a unifying threat with a unified response."
Secretary Kerry is echoing President Obama's denunciation of the ISIL group as not "Islamic" because no religion condones the killing of innocents.
"ISIL claims to be fighting on behalf of Islam, but the fact is that its hateful ideology has nothing to do with Islam. ISIL is a manifestation of evil, a vicious terrorist organization, and it is a organization that achieves its goals only through violence, repression and destruction, fed by illicit funding and a stream of foreign fighters. It has seized territory and terrorized the people who live there regardless of their sect or ethnicity," said Kerry.
Obama spoke Wednesday with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, a senior administration official told journalists. "The Saudis made very clear that they support this mission, they will join us in this mission," the official said.
In a strong measure of support, Saudi Arabia has agreed to host training camps for moderate Syrian rebels who are part of Obama's broad strategy to combat the militants, who have taken over a third of both Syria and Iraq, U.S. officials said.
Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states have their interests, as well, including a more assertive effort to oust President Bashar al-Assad.Saudis have been increasingly worried about ISIS, which they fear presents a threat to the stability of the Saudi kingdom.
American officials said that 1,000 Saudis had volunteered to fight with militant Islamic groups in Iraq and Syria. Saudi officials are concerned that some of those volunteers may try to carry out attacks after they return home.
Kerry said the United States already has launched more than 150 airstrikes in support of Iraqi soldiers fighting the Islamic State. The international community has air-dropped much-needed food and other essentials to many of the 1.8 million people displaced by the Islamic State's advance, he said.
Kerry also announced another $48 million in additional humanitarian aid to meet "urgent needs" of refugees throughout the region.
"This is a fight that the Iraqi people must win, but it's also a fight that the rest of the world needs them to win," Kerry said. "It's a fight the United States and the rest of the world needs to support every step of the way."
Obama will chair a meeting later this month at the U.N. General Assembly, where the global strategy is expected to be hammered out.
Sources
http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-heads-to-mideast-talks-on-islamic-state/2444615.html
http://www.click2houston.com/news/kerry-seeks-arab-support-for-isis-campaign/27997134
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/11/us-iraq-crisis-kerry-idUSKBN0H50MA20140911
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/world/middleeast/john-kerry-saudi-arabia-isis-strategy.html?_r=0
11Sep 2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet with leaders from key Arab countries in Saudi Arabia on Thursday as he seeks regional support for to fight Islamic State militants who control territory along Iraq's border with Syria. Kerry spent the day in Baghdad meeting with Iraq's new leaders.
Kerry began his discussions Thursday with Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, who used a cane as he walked to greet the secretary of state at the jetway to his plane.Kerry was scheduled to meet with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening.
U.S. officials have cast the campaign against Islamic State as a global fight against Islamist radicals and the threat they pose beyond Syria and Iraq.
Kerry said his travels through the Middle East and Europe over the coming days were an effort to "meet a unifying threat with a unified response."
Secretary Kerry is echoing President Obama's denunciation of the ISIL group as not "Islamic" because no religion condones the killing of innocents.
"ISIL claims to be fighting on behalf of Islam, but the fact is that its hateful ideology has nothing to do with Islam. ISIL is a manifestation of evil, a vicious terrorist organization, and it is a organization that achieves its goals only through violence, repression and destruction, fed by illicit funding and a stream of foreign fighters. It has seized territory and terrorized the people who live there regardless of their sect or ethnicity," said Kerry.
Obama spoke Wednesday with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, a senior administration official told journalists. "The Saudis made very clear that they support this mission, they will join us in this mission," the official said.
In a strong measure of support, Saudi Arabia has agreed to host training camps for moderate Syrian rebels who are part of Obama's broad strategy to combat the militants, who have taken over a third of both Syria and Iraq, U.S. officials said.
Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states have their interests, as well, including a more assertive effort to oust President Bashar al-Assad.Saudis have been increasingly worried about ISIS, which they fear presents a threat to the stability of the Saudi kingdom.
American officials said that 1,000 Saudis had volunteered to fight with militant Islamic groups in Iraq and Syria. Saudi officials are concerned that some of those volunteers may try to carry out attacks after they return home.
Kerry said the United States already has launched more than 150 airstrikes in support of Iraqi soldiers fighting the Islamic State. The international community has air-dropped much-needed food and other essentials to many of the 1.8 million people displaced by the Islamic State's advance, he said.
Kerry also announced another $48 million in additional humanitarian aid to meet "urgent needs" of refugees throughout the region.
"This is a fight that the Iraqi people must win, but it's also a fight that the rest of the world needs them to win," Kerry said. "It's a fight the United States and the rest of the world needs to support every step of the way."
Obama will chair a meeting later this month at the U.N. General Assembly, where the global strategy is expected to be hammered out.
Sources
http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-heads-to-mideast-talks-on-islamic-state/2444615.html
http://www.click2houston.com/news/kerry-seeks-arab-support-for-isis-campaign/27997134
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/11/us-iraq-crisis-kerry-idUSKBN0H50MA20140911
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/12/world/middleeast/john-kerry-saudi-arabia-isis-strategy.html?_r=0
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