Robust KSA-America defence ties stressed

US officials on Thursday called on partners in the coalition against Daesh to increase information sharing to counter the militant group’s expanding reach beyond Iraq and Syria, and said a victory in the northern city of Mosul was now in sight.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter thanked Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for or the close US-Saudi partnership and reaffirmed their strong relationship, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said.
Carter’s meeting with Prince Mohammed at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, provided an opportunity for the two leaders to continue discussions from their bilateral meeting held at the Pentagon in June, Cook said. They discussed the fight against Daesh and the coalition’s recent results, Saudi Arabia’s military capability development and regional security issues, he added. 
Carter underscored the US commitment to the enduring defense partnership with the Kingdom, Cook said.
Addressing the opening of a meeting of more than 30 defense and foreign chiefs in the US-led coalition, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that while the number of Daesh fighters is estimated to be down by one third, the group was transforming itself “from a phony state into some kind of global network.”
Kerry said breaking down structural barriers was crucial to allow more sharing of information about threats as the group seeks to boost recruitment by adopting new languages and moving into new territories.
“Information sharing has always been a big part of what the coalition does and it is playing a key role in our effort to prevent foreign terrorist fighters from traveling to Syria and Iraq, but it is also clear now that we have to do more,” he said.
Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the coalition, told the meeting that the liberation of Mosul, Daesh capital in Iraq, “is now in sight.”

Source : Arab News