Sharm Al Shaikh, Egypt: Arab foreign ministers have approved a draft resolution on an Egyptian proposal to create a pan-Arab military force to intervene in regional crises, a step described by a top Arab diplomat as a major breakthrough.
The approval was declared late on Thursday by Arab League chief Nabeel Al Arabi, who said that the draft will be discussed by Arab leaders at an annual summit starting in the Egyptian Sinai resort town of Sharm Al Shaikh on Saturday.
“The Arab national security is in danger,” Al Arabi told a press conference. “So it was appropriate to have this [draft] resolution that will be presented to the Arab leaders as part of efforts to preserve the Arab national security,” he added. “This is a very big and historic progress.”
Al Arabi hinted at reservations by some unnamed Arab countries about the creation of the joint force. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry played down the reservations, saying the Arab foreign ministers agreed at their Thursday meeting on the importance of the issue.
“There was a rich discussion and a consensus on the draft resolution,” Shukry told the same press conference without elaborating.
The two-day Arab summit comes as Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition against Yemen’s rebels seeking to oust the internationally recognised president and a territorial expansion by militant Daesh in several Arab countries.
In February, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi suggested setting up a unified Arab force to counter regional militancy.
In 1950, Arab leaders signed ِ a joint defence pact, under the umbrella of the Arab League. The accord has rarely seen the light of the day.
