Arab states gear up in anti-IS campaign

The U.S.-led campaign to fight Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq will aid Arab countries that oppose the armed groups but are reluctant to engage in direct combat, Egyptian analysts told Xinhua.
"The Arab trend now isn't towards forming a united military coalition to face the Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria," Sameh Seif al-Yazal, security expert and chairman of Gomhoria Center for Strategic Studies told Xinhua.
After U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to "destroy" the militant Sunni group, the Islamic State (IS), on Thursday and declared an international military alliance to fight them, Arab countries especially the Gulf states "breathed a sigh of relief," the security expert said "the U.S. interference saved the Arabs efforts of entering direct war with Islamists."
Traditional regional heavy weights are cautious about entering into the broadening conflict that is fracturing Syria and Iraq but see the expansion of the Islamic State, which has seized large swathes lands in Syria and Iraq, as a great regional threat.
Egypt, which led a bloody crackdown on the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood last year, continues to deal with attacks against security forces throughout the country and in the Sinai region, as well as the threat of spillover violence from conflicts in Libya and Sudan.
However, Yazal added the recent advancements by the Islamic State and its announcement that it plans to expand its influence in other countries outside of Iraq and Syria proved the group was a regional threat, pushing most Arab countries to cooperate with U. S. campaign by "exchanging intelligence or financial aid."
"Some of the Arab countries especially the Gulf will unite decisively to uproot the terrorist groups, especially the Islamic State," Yazal said.
Earlier on Thursday, 11 regional foreign ministers met at the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah to strategize ways to combat the Islamic State, official news agency MENA quoted Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry as saying.
The call to hold the meeting came a day after Saudi Arabia backed an Arab League resolution speeding up measures to crush regional terrorist organization and cooperate internationally to confront Islamic State militants.
Chairman of the pan-Arab organization Nabil al-Arabi had urged the foreign ministers on Sunday to take "a clear decision for a comprehensive confrontation militarily and politically," while the United States announced its intentions to expand its airstrikes against militant groups and sought wider regional backing for its campaign.
But not everyone is convinced that a wider U.S. military campaign in the region is beneficial, warning that such a move is a U.S. regional power strategy.
The Islamic State doesn't represent danger on the Arab countries, said Samir Ghatas, Chief of Maqdis Center for Political and Strategic Studies, while adding the U.S. is using the conflict in Iraq and Syria to pursue more influence in the region under the pretext of combating terrorism.
Ghatas emphasized that the Islamic State, composed of nearly 10, 000 Sunni soldiers including 1,200 from different nationalities, uses violence to fight back against discrimination they witnessed under former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Shiites.
He further argued that the group, which has driven thousands from their homes and posts videos of mass killings, "doesn't pose a direct military threat," saying the group uses traditional weapons that could be easily destroyed by a united Iraqi military.
Ghatas said the recent comments made by the chairman of Arab League are politically-motivated and were meant to rally Arab support for the U.S. military campaign. He added that although many Arab countries will not send troops to the conflict zone, some, especially the Gulf States, will "use the American forces to fight on their behalf."
Saudi Arabia hosted on Thursday's talks between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and ministers from 10 Arab states and Turkey on joint action plan to be taken against the Islamic State group.
Kerry was on a tour of the Middle East to build military, political and financial support to defeat the militants and to press Arab leaders to support Obama's plans for broader military involvement.
The Secretary of State also plans to ask Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states for more help, including flying rights and using regional television news outlets specifically Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya to broadcast anti-extremist messages, said the U.S. official.